Cardinal Lubomyr Husar of Kiev-Halych
Posted on 01/04/2008 1:46:48 PM PST by NYer
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Ordaining married men is not a guaranteed way to solve a vocations crisis, and it will not automatically improve the quality of priests, said Cardinal Lubomyr Husar of Kiev-Halych, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.
"The quality of the priest does not depend on whether or not he is married," the cardinal said in a Jan. 4 interview with the Vatican newspaper.
The cardinal, whose Eastern-rite church ordains married men, spoke to L'Osservatore Romano about the Ukrainian bishops' decision to proclaim 2008 "The Year of the Christian Vocation."
"We are not limiting ourselves to vocations to religious life and the priesthood, but are focusing on the Christian concept of vocation," he said. "This is because we have seen a serious instability both in the family and in religious life."
The rate of separation and divorce, as well as the rate of priests and religious asking to be released from their vows, has increased, the cardinal said.
Cardinal Husar said he did not have statistics for either case, but it appears that the flourishing of vocations to the priesthood and religious life that occurred immediately after independence 17 years ago has slowed severely and that family separations have increased.
"We are aware that, unfortunately, a certain percentage of those who requested priesthood did not have true vocations," he said.
Even though being a priest is not an easy life, he said, priests are highly respected in Ukraine, which makes the priesthood attractive.
"So the drop in the numbers is due at least in part to a more attentive discernment on the part of rectors and educators," he said. "In a certain sense, it is not right to talk about a decline in vocations, but of a process of purification."
The Vatican newspaper asked Cardinal Husar how he would respond to Latin-rite Catholics who think ordaining married men would solve the vocations crisis.
"Abolishing celibacy is not a solution in itself," he said. "The quality of the priest does not depend on whether or not he is married. This has been our experience, and I think people are wrong if they think the vocations problem can be resolved by ordaining married persons. It will not ensure a large number of vocations.
"I come from a priestly family," he said. "My grandfather was a priest, and other members of the family were priests; some were married, others were not.
"If a person is good, he will be a good priest, and this does not depend on the fact that he is married," Cardinal Husar said.
Can someone, in a nutshell, explain why priests shouldn’t be allowed to marry if the principal reason they were barred from it so long ago had to do with the inheritance of property? Is it just because it’s become so entrenched in the Church? I mean, I can understand the theological arguments for it, but it really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me if it wasn’t originally barred for those reasons...
A married man, however, can become a priest in some of the above churches.
To clarify: a priest cannot marry. But a married man can (sometimes) become a priest.
And your assumption that it was all a matter of conserving ecclesiatical property will be properly contested.
Hold on: you’re saying priests were *never* allowed to marry? If that is the case, then there’s no real need to answer my question since it was based on the (rather common) belief that they were barred from marriage a very long time ago.
“Can someone, in a nutshell, explain why priests shouldn’t be allowed to marry if the principal reason they were barred from it so long ago had to do with the inheritance of property?”
False premise. Celibacy wasn’t about inheritance of property.
Celibacy is a practice that goes back to apostolic times.
Celibacy also exists within the Orthodox Church as well as within the Eastern Catholic Churches, side-by-side with married priests. In fact, in the Orthodox Church, only celibate priests may become bishops.
The practice of the early Church was that married men who were priests would be continent (abstain from sexual relations) prior to the celebration of the Mass/Divine Liturgy. Often, married men who became priests voluntarily became permanently continent.
In the West, it became the norm for priests to celebrate Mass daily. This meant that these men had to embrace permanent continence. In part from that arose the discipline of mandatory celibacy for priests in the Latin Church.
I've pinged a few among many posters who can provide a more complete explanation.
sitetest
Thank you very much, that’s just what I was looking for.
Married first, then ordained: OK for deacons, and for priests under some rites.
Married first, then ordained: OK for deacons, and for priests under some rites.
First off ... that is not the principle reason. The principle reason is Scriptural. Jesus was celibate and advocated celibacy for His followers Matthew 19:10-12
That is the nutshell version. For a more in-depth understanding, go here.
This is the 2nd Eastern Catholic Cardinal who has spoken out in support of a celibate priesthood.
“”Abolishing celibacy is not a solution in itself,” he said. “The quality of the priest does not depend on whether or not he is married. This has been our experience, and I think people are wrong if they think the vocations problem can be resolved by ordaining married persons. It will not ensure a large number of vocations.
“I come from a priestly family,” he said. “My grandfather was a priest, and other members of the family were priests; some were married, others were not.
“If a person is good, he will be a good priest, and this does not depend on the fact that he is married,” Cardinal Husar said.”
+Lubomyr the Loose (as in loose cannon) is so seldom right that it is worthy of comment when he is...thus my comment!
Good comments from the Cardinal. Celibacy is not the underlying issue with regard to vocations.
I support married Priests in the eastern churches because it’s our tradition. Beyond that, it isn’t a “solution” to a problem. You just pick up a whole new set of challenges.
You've been fed a line of bull and swallowed it if you think that's the truth.
A nutshell wouldn't suffice. If you're sincerely interested and not simply intent on being a bomb thrower, read the following, cover to cover.
Bomb thrower? I asked a simple question and was looking for a simple answer. Several other people on this thread already provided me with one (without being condescending jackasses), so spare me your blathering.
Also, it may be wise to not automatically assume that because someone asks a question you’re overly sensitive about means that the asker has some sort of agenda or axe to grind—check my post history and then tell me I’m a “bomb thrower” (hell, just read the bloody thread!)
I wonder where this strange canard started. (You are hardly the first person who has said it; it must be a fairly common misconception.) I'll bet it traces back to a book written by some sort of atheist at some point.
Secular priests (diocesan priests, responsible to the bishop of a diocese, not members of a religious order) are permitted to inherit (and bequest) property at present, and I'm pretty sure that it's always been that way.
They are of course not permitted to bequeath things that belong to the church, no more than you can will your employer's property to your children.
Perhaps someone at one time expressed concern that the children of married priests would try to inherit church property (in an age when deeds and titles were much more loosely understood than they are now), and that has morphed into the "inheritance" storyline.
There's plenty of evidence for a celibate priesthood going back to very early days, and even married priests were supposed to abstain from relations with their wives, if not permanently, then at least on the night before they offered the Eucharistic liturgy. It goes back, in fact, to the Jewish priesthood -- Levite priests were not permitted to cohabitate with their wives when they were actively serving in the Temple.
I read a statistic somewhere that under Communism (I don’t know if that has changed) 70% of Ukrainian Catholic Priests remained celibate.
I wish I could find the link.
Are there statistics anywhere on what percentage of each rite are celibate vs. married worldwide. I have heard Maronite Priest in Lebannon, it’s about 50/50, but celibate everywhere else worldwide.
I’ve also heard that G’hiz Catholic Priests it runs about 98% celibate (I heard this from a G’hiz rite Seminarian).
Are statistics available anywhere?
There must be. It would be interesting to pursue this when I have some free time.
I have heard Maronite Priest in Lebannon, it’s about 50/50, but celibate everywhere else worldwide.
Yes, that's about right. Speaking to the 11th General Synod Fathers, gathered for their eighth meeting at the Vatican (Oct. 2005), Cardinal Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir, Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites in Lebanon addressed the issue, which has been brought up by many, particularly in light of the U.S. sex abuse scandal, of commonly permitting married priests in the Roman rite.
Vatican City, Oct. 07, 2005 (CNA) - The Cardinal defended the practice of the celibate priesthood and discussed the beauty of the tradition, calling it the "most precious jewel in the treasury of the Catholic Church."
While pointing out that "the Maronite Church admits married priests" and that "half of our diocesan priests are married", the Cardinal Patriarch said that "it must be recognized that if admitting married men resolves one problem, it creates others just as serious."
"A married priest", he said, "has the duty to look after his wife and family, ensuring his children receive a good education and overseeing their entry into society. ... Another difficulty facing a married priest arises if he does not enjoy a good relationship with his parishioners; his bishop cannot transfer him because of the difficulty of transferring his whole family.
He noted that "married priests have perpetuated the faith among people whose difficult lives they shared, and without them this faith would no longer exist."
"On the other hand," he said, "celibacy is the most precious jewel in the treasury of the Catholic Church,"
Lamenting a culture which is all but outright opposed to purity, the Cardinal asked: "How can [celibacy] be conserved in an atmosphere laden with eroticism? Newspapers, Internet, billboards, shows, everything appears shameless and constantly offends the virtue of chastity."
Suggesting that their are no easy solutions to the problem of priest shortages in the Church--an oft brought up point during the Synod--he noted that, "Of course a priest, once ordained, can no longer get married. Sending priests to countries where they are lacking, taking them from a country that has many, is not the ideal solution if one bears in mind the question of tradition, customs and mentality. The problem remains."
My pastor's great grandfather was a priest but our priest chose the celibate life. The Maronite Patriarch honors the traditions of the west by only assigning celibate priests to the diaspora. At present, our bishop has 4 seminarians (there were 0 when he was ordained 3 years ago) and is expecting 2 priests from Lebanon. The Lebanese priests are multi-lingual and very orthodox in their homiletics. It is a shock when they see some of the scandalous abuses in the Latin Church.
I’ve also heard that G’hiz Catholic Priests it runs about 98% celibate
I'm not familiar with this group. Where are they from?
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