[dfwgator]

Married priests ain't gonna happen either.

[David1]

But married priests at least is a possibility because it is only a discipline on the Roman Rite of the Church. Eastern Catholics in union with Rome do have married priests. But what will never happen is women in the priesthood.

[Sacajaweau]

They'll figure out the money. Will having more priests bring in more money? Will the outlay for a wife and kids.....and child support and alimony outweigh it? There's a lot of legal stuff involved in this decision.

HOWEVER, my own personal feeling is that "celibacy" is not the greatest of sacrifices for many adults and I'm betting there's only a handful of priests that are virgins....(If that many).

I suppose that married priests would be the best examples of dealing with parishioners who have family problems but the reality is, those married priests will have problems, too.
So, cut your losses and deny marriage. Don't forget, up until the 14th century, (I think), they were allowed to marry. So, the question becomes: What REALLY caused the change in the marriage rule??? Could there have been a scandal we don't know about....and never will?

Women as priests......Sorry, don't want it and don't need it. If you don't like it...too bad. (And I'm a woman).

[franky]

The following was by written by Fr. Robert J. Levis, of Erie, PA on 09-10-2003:

“Celibacy will remain a characteristic of the Western Priesthood for the following reasons:

1. The priest is considered a groom, like Christ the Groom, married to the whole Church. This is an ancient patriarchal notion and a good one. This Christian union is monogamous, one husband with one wife. The priest's wife is his people whom he serves without counting the effort.

2. The vocation of the priest is to stand in the person of Christ who was celibate throughout his whole life.

3. The primary purpose of marriage is the rearing and training of children, an enormous task. An essential duty of the priest is to administer the Sacraments most especially the Holy Eucharist, a most solemn duty which requires a detached life, much solitary prayer, and training for homiletic work.

4. The priest is considered the "sexless one", the man to whom all, men and women, may come in complete freedom and openness with their counseling problems. Any woman can see the priest who is not some woman's husband, which is a freedom for her and an advantage for the independent priest.


5. Imagine the costs of providing for a priest and his non-conceptive family, a real practical consideration in these times.”

[llama hunter]

I think married priests will happen before women priests if ever since there were married priests in the Catholic Church until 1139 AD......obviously the Eastern Orthodox Catholic tradition believes there is scriptural support for married priests

[sinkspur]

Married priests ain't gonna happen either.

Don't be so sure. There are many bishops who favor married priests, based on the successful experience of the Anglican dispensation.

[LadyDoc]

hate to tell you, but Eastern catholics have married priests. Like the Orthodox, priests can't marry, but married men can become priests.


To me, this seems to be a good compromise: If an older married deacon wants to become a priest, he should be allowed to do so after serving as a deacon for several years.

But the REAL problem with "married priests" is that those pushing it have another agenda, just like wyminpriests: The destruction of the church.

You can see it in their first sentence: That men and women are equal....they interpret this "equal" as "same"...in John Paul II's talks on the theology of the body, he insists that men and women both have talents, but that our sexuality is deeply part of our being.

Denying the reality of the body, including our sexual identity, is a form of gnosticism, i.e. denial of the reality of the body. It's a form of pride... you see, if you ignore the body, you ignore the body's weakness, and holiness becomes who is hoity toity and spiritual (think of gurus, or even monks).

But the whole point of Christianity is that we can become saints as fully human beings-- not rejecting our bodies, but placing them in relationship to God. So even making love is a way of praising God and serving God, since giving to each other wholeheartedly and being open to life leads to the miracle of babies.

Ultimately, womenpriests and the denial of the importance of two sexes leads to confusion...and to homosexuality, to contraception and the denial of the importance of the family...

[A. Pole]

Married priests ain't gonna happen either.

This is very different. Roman Catholic Church was ordaining married men into priesthood until XII century (letting already ordained to look for women is another thing). General celibacy is disciplinary and not doctrinal.