Married Catholic Priests

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

melon

ONE love, blood, life
Joined
Oct 2, 2000
Messages
11,790
Location
Ásgarðr
They already exist. Aspiring priests just need to learn to exploit the loopholes:

The church already ordains married Protestant clergy who convert, and Eastern Rite priests -- who share liturgies and other traditions with Eastern Orthodoxy but are loyal to the pope -- can marry.

In fact, it's a little known secret that some already have done this. Some would convert to the Episcopal Church, where, for those who don't already know, is pretty much a mirror of Catholicism with female priests and without the guilt. As such, they'd get married, become a minister, and then, in a few years, reconvert back to Catholicism. Then voila! You have a legally married Catholic priest, according to canon law.

Interesting, eh?

Melon
 
I guess that's why there's a shortage of priests then. It really is a lot of work.

Oh well...the church shall reap what it's sowed.

Melon
 
Clerical celibacy was mandated by the First Lateran Council in 1123. The idea was much older and the history of the controversy over celibacy in the first centuries of the church is wrapped up in the history of the priesthood, which would actually make a pretty good book if a really good Ph.D. historian (not yours truly) decided to write a book about it.
 
melon said:
I guess that's why there's a shortage of priests then. It really is a lot of work.

Oh well...the church shall reap what it's sowed.

Melon

i recall a copule years ago you used to be a devote, albeit struggling, catholic. i take it that you fell off the wagon, so to speak.
 
You can only take so much abuse before you say "enough is enough."

It will take a lot of change before I will ever consider going back. Respect is to be earned, not demanded. The Catholic Church needs to remember that next time.

If an Opus Dei follower becomes Pope, then what lingering respect I have left, albeit small, will completely disintegrate.

Melon
 
I'm not nearly as familiar w/ Catholicism as I am w/ the Protestant denominations. Can someone (verte?) explain to me the "official" position/reasoning for why clergy can't marry?
 
from what i understand, the reasoning behind not allowing priests to marry is rooted in the alleged power of celibacy, which is supposed to be linked to spiritual cleanliness and purity. as holy men, they should be able to find the strength to rise above their bodily desires, and thereby better serve the church.

something like that, anyway.

i just finished reading a fascinating book called 'a history of mistresses', and there was a chapter about priestly and clerical mistresses. it hasn't been an uncommon phenomenon for high ranking church officials to have mistresses who they kept close by hiring them as their live-in housekeepers. generally, the superiors knew about these arrangements but chose to look the other way. unless the woman got pregnant, of course, and then there would be a big scandal.
 
dandy said:
from what i understand, the reasoning behind not allowing priests to marry is rooted in the alleged power of celibacy, which is supposed to be linked to spiritual cleanliness and purity. as holy men, they should be able to find the strength to rise above their bodily desires, and thereby better serve the church.

Do you know if they're inferring this from specific places/contexts in Scripture?
 
Romans speaks of not getting married if it would interfere with your work for the Lord. But it is left as an individual choice, not a blanket rule.
 
i've also heard that the church wanted to prevent the loss of property through inheritance. if the priests had no one who could inherit their property (sons from a legal marriage), the church retained their wealth. something like that. i think.
 
nbcrusader said:
Priest were allowed to marry for, what, the first 1200 years of the Catholic Church?


I have read that the change was largely due to inheritance laws.


The Priests were major landholders with a lot of wealth.

Upon their death the oldest son stood to inherit and this did not sit well with Rome.
 
Se7en said:
i've also heard that the church wanted to prevent the loss of property through inheritance. if the priests had no one who could inherit their property (sons from a legal marriage), the church retained their wealth. something like that. i think.

oops,

i should read the entire thread before replying
 
dandy said:
from what i understand, the reasoning behind not allowing priests to marry is rooted in the alleged power of celibacy, which is supposed to be linked to spiritual cleanliness and purity. as holy men, they should be able to find the strength to rise above their bodily desires, and thereby better serve the church.



This is just complete bunk!

This creates self-loathing and sets an impossible standard for people to fail or become emotionally unstable


To be human is not a sin

This type of thinking is a crime against God's children


(not directed at you, dandy
this nonsense has been around a long time before you got here and is kept going by those who profit by it)
 
That some would CHOOSE to be celibate is fine.

That it be mandated that ALL clergy be celibate has had disastrous effects and ruin untold lives.

It is an impossible standard.
 
nbcrusader said:



Really?? Spiritual men and women have lived this way for centuries.


Did this not begin with shunning just about everything?

All possessions, positions, relationships, even many foods?
 
Se7en said:
is an opus dei member actually a serious candidate?

i'm not catholic so i really haven't been keeping up with the whole election process.

There's two candidates linked to Opus Dei that have been thrown around. One is an Italian cardinal and the other is Brazilian.

Of course, to be fair, the next Pope could be absolutely anyone.

Melon
 
Se7en said:
i've also heard that the church wanted to prevent the loss of property through inheritance. if the priests had no one who could inherit their property (sons from a legal marriage), the church retained their wealth. something like that. i think.

This was the primary reason I've heard. It also doesn't help that the religious climate of the day was heavily anti-sex.

Melon
 
Back
Top Bottom