Posted on 06/09/2003 9:41:46 AM PDT by george wythe
Much as Martin Luther left the Catholic Church hundreds of years ago because he didn't like the church's direction, a Lutheran minister is becoming a Roman Catholic priest.
The Rev. Leonard Klein, whose last service as pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in York is June 29, says the Evangelical Church in America is moving further and further from orthodoxy. Klein, who follows a traditional view of marriage, said issues such as the blessing of same-sex unions should not even be up for debate
The decision was difficult because he is leaving a congregation that he has been happy to serve for 22 years, he said.
"It's certainly a loss," said the Rev. Beth Schlegel, an associate pastor at Christ Lutheran.
Klein, 57, is to attend St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, and is to be ordained after three years.
Klein is married, which will make him an oddity among Roman Catholic priests. The Roman Catholic Church accepts a few married clergymen as priest candidates if they come from a faith tradition close to Catholicism, Klein said. Most are Lutherans and Episcopalians.
When Steve Anderson began studying for the Catholic priesthood three years ago, he had much in common with his classmates.A love of God.
A desire to serve.
A background of intense Bible study.
But Anderson, 44, also has a wife and three sons. Technically, that made him ineligible to serve a church that requires its clergy to be single and celibate.
"The most common question is, 'How can that be?' " said Anderson, former pastor of a Charismatic Episcopal church in Brighton.
In a 1980 statement, Pope John Paul II allowed an exception for married Episcopal clergy who wanted to become Catholic priests. Since then, Vatican officials also have considered requests from members of other Christian denominations.
Anderson will be the first married priest among the Lansing Diocese's 130 priests; the diocese estimates there are about 200 nationwide.
Anderson will be ordained June 14 and begin serving as associate pastor at Holy Family Parish in Grand Blanc. He knows it may take some time for people to get used to the idea, just as it took time for some of his fellow seminarians.
"Change is hard for people, and something different is hard for people, and they have to process that," he said. "In time they get to know me and I become a person and not a theory."
Gallup polls show an increasing number of Catholics support the ordination of married men to the priesthood.
"I was very excited about it," said Paula Wanbaugh, 62, who has belonged to Holy Family for 28 years. "Some people, it's going to be difficult for them, and others think it's wonderful."
Wanbaugh is a member of a rosary group, in which members recite specific prayers for people or causes. "We are praying for him, coming into a new parish, and we are praying that he will be accepted for who he is," she said.
The Andersons have made an offer on a house in Grand Blanc.
Born into a Presbyterian family, Anderson's faith journey began when he was a teenager. He was drawn to the charismatic movement, which incorporated a focus on signs from the Holy Spirit.
That solidified when his older brother, Nelson, was in a car accident. "There were many people praying for him," Anderson said, including charismatics. "They seemed to have a vibrant, living faith."
He attended Adrian College for a year, then switched to Oral Roberts University, where he discovered the teachings of the early Christian leaders.
"I took a class with an Eastern Orthodox professor, and he just loved his faith, and that is when I started reading the early church fathers," Anderson said. He earned a bachelor's degree in Biblical literature in 1980 and a master of divinity degree in 1984.
Along the way, he married Cindy, now 43, his high school sweetheart. Their son Austin, 18, will attend the University of Michigan this fall. Steven is 8 and Christian is 5.
Anderson expected to enter the ministry at some point but decided to work in counseling first. That lasted two years. The family moved to Florida, and he worked for Office Depot.
In 1992, he was working at Office Depot when he spotted a man named Bev Barge, who had helped him find his way to the Episcopal church during college.
That experience catalyzed something. The Andersons decided to move back to Michigan. He became a Charismatic Episcopal minister in 1995 and founded a mission parish in Brighton.
Church members explored the Roman, Eastern and Episcopal rites during their Masses.
"We went on a journey," he said. "And for me, that journey was right toward Rome."
After studying with Monsignor Robert Lunsford, then in St. Johns, Anderson and his family converted to Catholicism in 1999. He entered Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit in 2000, the same year Bishop Carl Mengeling asked the Vatican to allow him to become a priest. He served an internship in Pinckney for the past year.
He hopes his unique experience as a family man will help his ministry, but does not think it really sets him apart from celibate priests.
"Every life experience that somebody has is an opportunity to work for good," Anderson said. "Would it make me better or worse than a celibate priest? No, because everyone has life experiences that enhance their ministry."
DENVER (AP) - John O'Shea came close to retiring to Florida after his wife's death six years ago. Instead, at 69, the father of 10 and former deputy police chief is now embarking on his fourth career: a Roman Catholic priest
The Denver native married his high school sweetheart Barbara Broderick soon after graduation. When his jobs in meatpacking and at a biscuit factory weren't paying enough to support his growing family, O'Shea entered the Denver Police Department in 1961.
He rose from a beat cop to hold a variety of administrative jobs while getting his bachelor's degree. He retired as deputy chief in 1987 and finished a doctorate degree in psychology before becoming director of the Colorado Law Enforcement Training Academy in Trinidad.
His wife died in 1997 after years of heart and lung problems.
That belief is insupportable by evidence. The infiltration by perverts has been the result of a deliberate policy to admit perverts to some seminaries, and deny admission to normal men. Fortunately, most of the perverted seminaries are also dying, whilst those which support and teach orthodox Christianity are unable (for lack of space) to admit all who apply. I note that certain Protestant denominations feature lesbian bishops; these denominations also permit married ordained ministry.
1. Increased recruitment of married priests from Protestant churches.2. Sending a hint to heterosexual Catholic men to convert to Protestantism for while and then come back as married miniters to the Catholic Church.
We seem to have a double standard, one for always Catholic men and one for Protestant-turned-Catholic men.
I don't think it's a double standard at all. Afterall, how would it look if the RCC forced these men to divorce their wives to become priests? The Bible speaks out against divorce except in cases of adultery. To force these men divorce their wives (which would be a sin) to uphold the idea of celebate priests (which is only founded on tradition, not holy writ) would make the RCC totally hypocritical.
There are wonderful married men in the Catholic Church who will make excellent priests. After prayerful consideration, these men should be considered for possible priesthood.
Even a significant minority of married priests can provide additional wisdom to the Church in general and fellow celibate priests in particular while dealing with family matters.
Nothing to do with divorce, IMHO. It's a double standard, one scale used to buy goods and another scale used to sell goods.
Congratulations to Rev. Klein.
That being said: celibacy has long been the norm of discipline for Roman Rite priests, and I see no good reason to end that tradition.
Failing that, there are certainly other Lutheran church bodies that are more theologically sound than the ELCA. Why not try the Missouri Synod, Wisconsin Synod or AALC? These organizations of Bible-believing Christians stand admirably and steadfastly under the Word of God. And they adhere to the traditional Lutheran teachings found in the Augsburg Confession. No namby-pamby New Age crap and no homo marriages!
Same question I used to ask in all my years growing up Roman Catholic. Never did get a satisfactory answer. Mandatory celibacy for certain believers is pretty much a man-made tradition—not a godly rule spelled out by Jesus or any of the Apostles.
Incorrect.
I don't see why the catholic church can't keep the rule that says you may not get married if you are a priest, but also add a rule that says if you are married, you can become a priest.
Actually several of the apostles were married. Celibacy was not implemented in the RC Church until the Middle Ages. The reason it was implemented was the Church had become the largest landholder in Europe and they could not afford Priests having legitimate offspring.
And Catholic priests in Africa are permitted to marry right now.
Actually, though several of the apostles were indeed married, the Catholic Church enforced celibacy as early as the 4th century (the Council of Elvira).
And Catholic priests in Africa are permitted to marry right now.
No, African Catholic priests are not allowed to be married. If they are indeed getting married, they are in violation of Church rules.
Well, then the Church chooses to look the other way. Do a websearch the practice is widespread in Africa.
I am aware that there are some renegade priests in Africa that violate the Church's rules, just as priests violate the Church's rules in a number of ways all over the world. This is somewhat different than the Church "permitting" priests to marry in Africa.
Every time we allow a Protestant-turned-Catholic to become a married priest, we also allow an always-been-Catholic to become a married priest.
Celibate priests will still be the majority, but we will not have a double standard dealing with exceptions to our rules.
I was just thinking outloud.
I hope better minds than mine can come up with a reasonable compromise.
He is in good company with Fr. Richard John Neuhaus. He was ordained into the catholic church by (now deceased) John Cardinal O'Connor. After completing the Rites of Ordination, the cardinal said: "This has to be one of the longest ordinations in the history of the church".
This may well be the 2nd longest
Yes. It's never been necessary, as the Eastern Rites have proved.
The Church in America would likely be able to increase its numbers by a good 10-15% if some of those married priests were welcomed back, and it's likely that that many would return. There's little doubt that the faithful would welcome them, with open arms.
It's ridiculous that the Church doesn't figure out a way to utilize these men, especially since their education cost the faithful, cumulatively, millions of dollars. Our little diocese lost 20 men between 1976-1990; my entire seminary class, of which 12 were ordained, now counts two priests.
There are dioceses (and you can guess where they are) where these men aren't even allowed to assist in RCIA programs or be lectors at Mass.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
That goes far beyond any reasonable aspect of following canon law and is just petty and vindictive.
Who would have guessed that the Church would have allowed married Anglican, Lutheran, and Methodist converts to be ordained to the priesthood, prior to 1980?
Someone above said that, according to the Virginia Catholic, the Vatican is no longer suspending Eastern Rite priests who are marrying. (I'm trying to find this somewhere). That would be quite a change, don't you think?
Look, we've been around this tree many times. Unlike you, I think the Church is on the verge of using the Anglican dispensation as a model for introducing married men into the priesthood, and making some exceptions for allowing men who left the priesthood to marry to return.
What do you think of this: A man who left the priesthood 20 years ago, married (without benefit of laicization), is divorced by his wife, and is on the verge of being accepted back into the active diocesan priesthood?
It's already happened to two men in Dallas, and it's about to happen to a friend of mine here in Ft. Worth.
These guys lived in invalid marriages, had children, and are now returning to the priesthood, while the guys who did the right thing and got laicized are getting the cold shoulder from the Vatican.
The Church can call whoever it wants to the priesthood, but I have to laugh every time I hear of somebody squeezing through a canonical keyhole (divorced priests and Protestant converts) while lifelong Catholic men, who left the priesthood and made the mistake of getting laicized so that they could stand before God with a clear conscience, are shunted off to pour coffee at RCIA events and told their presence is not wanted in the sanctuary.
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