Posted on 04/10/2014 6:42:47 PM PDT by ebb tide
You’re so desperate as to be quoting The Bitter Pill now? May as well start quoting press releases from Catholics for Choice or the Association of Roman Catholic Wymynprysts.
Why even have a pope, if bishops’ conferences determine Church reforms?
Pope Francis, in this Lenten season, reminds me of Pontius Pilate. He washes his hands and leaves decisions to mob mentality.
First, it’s Holy Communion for adulterers; now it’s married priests that’s up for a vote.
Would you rather me quote Patheos?
Does that make you more warm and comfy on your high horse?
What are the child molesters supposed to do for a living if their careers are stolen by normal people?
Sure...if Deacon Greg's source was something other than the Bitter Pill...
That’s an entirely misleading headline. The most that can be said is that the Pope stressed that the bishops of the world need to get creative in addressing the priest shortage. Anything more than this is wishful thinking on somebody’s part.
The Eastern Catholic Churches already ordain married men to the priesthood. Only celibate priests are ordained bishop, as in the Eastern Orthodox Churches.
And the Orthodox Church allows divorce and remarriage; and Pope Francis suggests using that as a model as well.
Cardinal Kasper is his front man on that issue.
“Creative”? What the heck do you think the popes and bishops have been doing since 1962; holding fast to Tradition?
Did we have a priest shortage in the 1950’s like we do now?
Don’t get me wrong...it is not a doctrinal change, as the Churches of the East have done this forever as did the Latin Church for 1,000 years. It is a discipline change. And if he wants input and agreement from the various bishops’ conferences (who would be stuck with administering this and providing for the families of the married priests), then all well and good.
But sourcing ANYTHING from the Bitter Pill? ANYTHING? That is like asking MSNBC for neutral news about The Won.
That married priests COULD be allowed is not news; the prohibition on married clergy is merely a discipline imposed by the Patriarch of Rome, which is another office exercised by the guy who is also Pope. Other Catholic Patriarchs exercise different discipline in this matter.
That’s a little extreme. A conference of bishops isn’t mob rule. Mob rule would be if he declared a referendum of Catholics on the subject. Bear in mind, the liberal Catholic bishops in Europe and Latin America are counterbalanced by conservative Asian and African bishops.
I have tried to be fair to this pope. I think he has run into problems when his own public addresses have not really addressed key issues, but when he does talk about these things, we always get it secondhand from someone who “talked to him”.
This being said, as a non-Catholic, I don’t have much strong feeling on the celibacy issue, but I understand it is a looong-running tradition that conservative Catholics to a large degree do not want to see undermined.
But judge him by his fruits. We have seen much talk and not a lot of action. When we see a conference, and when we see them change the rules, then we can critique it, but much like the Malaysian flight mystery, until you have something solid it does seem a lot like shouting at phantoms. Trust but verify.
Im not Catholic. A Christian however who sees nothing morally repugnant with allowing married men to be priests!
Agreed. But it appears the current Patriarch of Rome absolutely refuses to exercise the powers of his office in deference to “collegiality”.
They already allow married priests
Why shouldn’t they be allowed to marry? Catholics believe Peter was the first pope. He was married.
If it was okay for Jesus to have those working so closely with him to be married, it should be fine with Catholics.
And there would likely be a lot less homosexual activity if more of them were married and had families.
That’s my 2 cents worth.
Yeah, right! Just like Holy Communion in the hand and on the hoof, altar girls, dispensation from Holy Days of Obligation, fasting and abstinence, Ember Days; all at the bequest of bishops, is now "well and good".
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