Posted on 06/11/2014 9:04:51 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
ROME — Pope Francis says he believes that Roman Catholic priests should be celibate but the rule was not an unchangeable dogma and “the door is always open” to change.
Francis made similar comments when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires but his remarks to reporters on a plane returning from a Middle East trip were the first he has made since becoming pope.
“Celibacy is not a dogma,” he said Monday in answer to a question about whether the Catholic Church could some day allow priests to marry as they can in some other Christian Churches.
“It is a rule of life that I appreciate very much and I think it is a gift for the Church but since it is not a dogma, the door is always open,” he said.
The Church teaches that a priest should dedicate himself totally to his vocation, essentially taking the Church as his spouse, in order to help fulfill its mission.
However while priestly celibacy is a tradition going back around 1,000 years, it is not considered dogma, or an unchangeable piece of Church teaching.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalpost.com ...
FYI, there were 39 married Popes in the past ( not to mention priests ).
This is documented by historians.
See here for instance:
Kelly, J. N. D. Oxford Dictionary of Popes. New York, Oxford Press. 1986.
Somebody better tell the parish priest out in Norcross GA - he's a former Anglican and he's right there on the altar every Sunday!
Just pointing out the possibilities in the opposite direction.
The ring itself doesn't change. One ring to rule them all.
The Church's rules have always been clear that neither homosexuals nor those with homosexual inclinations should be ordained or admitted to seminary. They used to send them home from seminary.
Unfortunately the 'swinging 60s' infected seminaries and chanceries as well, and we saw the result in the scandals of the 70s and 80s.
A major housecleaning has now occurred, and bishops are more vigilant. But it will be awhile before all the dead wood is cleared out.
Interesting thoughts but how do we then explain that the vast majority of sexual abuse is done by married men, including family members.
Would that include same sex marriage? The Coptic Priests can marry—but the Coptic Pope and Bishops must be from the ranks of the Monks who are celebate. There system seems to work well for them.
Since I was a seminarian, I can assure that there is a very intense program explaining how and why celibacy is a much greater gift than married love. Every man who is ordained knows a long time beforehand the nature of the vow. He has plenty of time to consider it (6 years minimum) before taking that vow. This is because any provable deception, fraud, or misunderstanding on the part of the man taking the vow invalidates the ordination. All the men I saw ordained knew celibacy was a greater gift and embraced it. That is essential for it to be a sacrifice. One leaves behind one good for the sake of obtaining a greater good.
I just think it would help keep the temptation at bay—the scandal of the priests is a tragedy...ruined lives, children traumatized, not to mention the spiritual degradation of the people involved. Of course it isn’t a cure all; there are sexual and moral failing within the non-Roman Christian bodies as well. I do believe it addresses a necessary human need—sexual satisfaction—and would save a lot of heartache.
I am not Catholic—in fact I disagree with the theology thereof...BUT I also think the RCC has a lot of honest Christ followers in her, and what is good for one part of the church is good for the entire “catholic” (not Roman) body.
I am not a liberal either. :)
I worked with a guy who had been in the seminary for a while (can't recall if he ever specified for how long).He said he left because he was always being hit upon by other seminarians and professors.He was stunned and disgusted by what was going on.
I kid you not.And yes,he might have been lying but I sincerely doubt it.He was an honest,down to earth guy.
Of course it's understandable (to me,at least) why this could have happened.And no,I don't believe that all priests are perverts but you have to admit,as an earlier poster stated,that it's the ideal cover for a pervert looking for "respectability".Or at least it was before being a pervert was something to be celebrated.
1 Corinthians 7:8
New King James Version (NKJV)
But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; 9 but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
I’ve heard of seminaries where that kind of evil gets dug in. It is a sad blot on the name of the Lord when it does. Nobody should declare a scandal where there isn’t any, but sometimes there really are scandals.
And if you were paying attention, you've also been told many times that clerical celibacy (at least in the sense of not ordaining married men to the priesthood), is not dogma but discipline, and therefore is at least theoretically changeable.
By the way, speaking of changing doctrine, does your Presbyterian church approve of artificial contraception? When did they change that doctrine? I guarantee it happened after 1930.
But if they did, they were predestined to do it!
(Badoom tish)
“Celibacy is a gift not a curse”.
A good wife is a gift.
So you’re saying there is no dogma that Catholic priests HAVE to do this. That this is a separate body of principles and is subject to alteration through whatever official process such things are altered.
Paul speaks of the advantages of both situations. Diversity, man, diversity. Before it got shanghaied by the liberals.
Peter was Catholic after Pentecost.
Yeah, this assertion that Pastoral Provision convert priests can’t confect the Eucharist is incorrect. My brother is in a parish where a Pastoral Provision priest was assigned. A former Lutheran minister, this priest had all priestly faculties without exception.
Ummm no.
Peter was never a Catholic. I’m not sure when he died, but its a safe bet it was before the third century.
You know. Before Catholicism became a religion.
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