Free Republic

BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- In a rare move that needed the pope's approval, a Lutheran convert was ordained Tuesday as a Catholic priest in Germany and is being allowed to remain married to his wife — who has already become a nun. Harm Klueting, 61, was ordained by Archbishop Joachim Cardinal Meisner in a private ceremony at the city's seminary, the Cologne archdiocese said. Pope Benedict XVI gave Klueting a special permission to remain married to his wife Edeltraut Klueting, who became a Catholic Carmelite nun in 2004. The Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican's chief spokesman, said the exception is...

Jeff Henry's long journey of faith has brought him full circle, not only back to the church in which he was baptized as an infant but also back to serving God. When he's ordained at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on June 4, he will become the Sacramento Catholic Diocese's first converted, married priest. "This will be new for us," said Bishop Jaime Soto. "I announced it to our priests on Monday, and they're very excited. They were curious but very welcoming of the idea. I think it will be an adventure not just for Jeff and his wife...

It's the first Catholic ordination in one Pennsylvania community -- and it's one for the history books: St. Joseph's Church in York will be the setting on Saturday for an event sure to go down in local religious history, and perhaps more. Paul Schenck, born into a Jewish family, eventually ordained as a Protestant minister, converting then becoming a Catholic deacon ... plus being married and blessed with many children ... will be ordained a Catholic priest in solemn ceremonies at St. Joseph's on Saturday. This will be the first-ever Catholic ordination in York, and surely, from a ministerial perspective,...

As reported in the Santa Fe New Mexican, Archbishop Michael Sheehan ordained three priests at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi here in Santa Fe yesterday, and one of the three was Jeffrey Whorton, a married father of five.

It would seem that Roman Catholics challenging the ban on married priests have found a leader in Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo. He's defiantly appeared with his bride from a 2001 wedding where hundreds of couples tied the knot. He stood his ground last month after being excommunicated for installing four married men as bishops. But the 76-year-old prelate from Zambia finds himself more shunned than celebrated, even by his ideological allies. Many of the established movements pushing for optional celibacy are keeping a cautious distance. Milingo's flamboyant style and unusual associations — including the Rev. Sun Myung Moon — are simply...

From Byzcath blogger: "what I understand, Sunday, February 12, 2006, at 4 pm, Deacon Joseph Marquis became the first US-ordained, married Byzantine priest. This took place in Parma, and Father Marquis will take over as pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Livonia, Michigan."

ORDINATION OF MARRIED MENIN THE EASTERN CHURCH MARRIAGE FEAST AT CANA ...Giant steps forward in the attitude of the Roman Catholic Church toward recognizing and honoring the practice of a married clergy in the Eastern Churches occurred in the decade of the 90's. Two documents, in particular, are significant for the Byzantine Catholic Metropolia in the United States, namely the promulgation of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches by John Paul II on Oct. 18, 1990 and the promulgation of the Particular Law for the Metropolia of Pittsburgh in 1999. (20) The crucial statement in the Eastern Code...