Posted on 01/28/2017 6:45:01 PM PST by CharlesOConnell
Canon #277
I read ‘em, don’t write ‘em.
Interpretations and practice run the gamut.
Lifelong continence for the married deacon is the expectation - they make a promise (not a vow of celibacy like a priest). This is why the consent of the wife is required and the minimum age for a married deacon is 35.
Canon Law - I read it, I don’t write it.
It was explained to me by the wife of a deacon this way, marital fidelity to each other until she passes away then he is bound by celibacy. She said sacramental marriage is not disolved but respected.
She has had a baby since he became a deacon, Latin Rite, too.
St. John Paul II speaks beautifully to this subject in Gaudium et Spes.
The concept of continence within sacramental marriage as a spiritual discipline is as if starting a new life. It desired to be a gift to the marriage of a deacon and wife- not a punishment.
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