C'mere.
BTTT
The Apostle Peter was not married...
...wait a minute.
They should be allowed to marry. It will never happen though.
We also had some priests in the ol' rectory that were celibate when it came to women but not with each other. Some referred to them as being "celibutt in the rectumry".
Personally? I think they should be allowed to be married. It would bring females into the picture to keep and eye on things and also make it easier to tell which priests were, let's say, out of the norm.
Rome,
And while you're at it, let's revisit the whole monogamy thing...and maybe meat on Fridays...and...
Love, the "dwindling ranks"
Look, just because is guy is married doesn't mean that he will be able to do a better job counseling a wife and husband having difficulty in their marriage.
But the ability for Catholic priests to marry couldn't hurt recruitment in America. My God, I think they are something like 29-thousand parish priests in all of the US, and only 300 or 400 of them are UNDER the age of 30.
Some day, I am certain, Catholic priests will be allowed to marry. But not soon.
"Catholic Priest Caught in Adultery Scandal"
"Father Is An Dead-Beat Dad"
"Ex-wife Wants Half of Diocese"
"Padre Pounds Pretty Little Princess"
...
You get the idea: they'll be looking for that first extra-marital affair, divorce, spousal abuse, etc. to give new fresh black eyes to the Catholic Church.
TS
ping
So being married is itself not an impediment to being a priest. It's just that this option is only allowed for priests who were ordained in another rite and were married before converting to the Roman rite.
The orthodox church allows for marriage and has since before there was a roman catholic church.
The caviate is that you have to BE married when becomeing a priest and you can't get married after being a priest. Which is why many decons wait to get married before taking the final vows.
The other caviate is that the priest can only go up to a certain rank as a married priest and the higher ranks are for unmarried only. (arch bishop)
And just for added information, the nicean creed includes the line "one holy catholic and apostolic church..." So technically there is a catholic (which just means universal) church which allows marriage.
I think these priests have a valid point worth discussing. No snap judgments either way.
Priests being celibate is a tradition just started in the 13th century of so. It's no sin to be married and have sex. Many people are actually MORE effective in the ministry as a result of marriage.
The bottom line is a belief that one is more holy if one does not marry. Balderdash. Jesus is the one who is holy. All who have true belief are holy whether married or not.
The Catholic church will eventually drop this outdated rule. Until they do they will have trouble drawing people
The problem is that if these men marry, then the Church has to worry about support of the wives and children and the Church will be taken into divorce courts around the world for support as well.
The priests are supposed to live in near poverty and the women and kids thing just isn't that workable.
As it is, the Church has been through a ton of lawsuits lately because they have assets and Real Estate.
The problems in the Church with homosexual predators who lied to become priests happens equally throughout the different versions of faith/religion, but the Catholic Church's assets is a carrot on a stick for plaintiffs and lawyers.
Priests marrying will split the priest's time, will cause problems and the wives will claim they were due payments over everything.
Too tough to do IMO.
They want to change the contract.
It's like the renegade military guys who signed up and then didn't want to stand by their word and do their duty.
Punks all.
1. In most cases, those formerly protestant and married pastors who are now Catholic priests do not have pastoral care of a parish; in many cases, they are given other responsibilities more in keeping with a 8-or 10-hour day, in respect to their family life. So the argument from THIS kind of married priest really does not apply to the type of work that 90% of diocesan priests do: work in a parish.
2. It is a common fallacy to say that a married priest would offer more effective counseling than a celebate priest. In fact, I do not know one priest (and I know many dozens) who offer THAT kind of counseling. For marriage counseling, a priest would recommend--get this--a professional marriage counselor. By contrast, a priest will talk with the couple, together or separately, and lead them to a deeper prayer life, or a deeper understanding of God's will for their lives, etc. They would receive spiritual counseling.
3. It is a fact, maybe a sad fact, that a married clergy will place enormous strain on the finances of a parish and the ability of a parish to carry out its panaply of sacramental liturgies. Right now, a celebate priest earns about 14,000 dollars american per year. The just wage for a married priest would have to be triple that.
Much as I hate to say it, many seminaries and rectories resemble Fire Island in the summer, or Key West in the winter.