Posted on 02/12/2020 6:30:14 AM PST by C19fan
Pope Francis has ruled against ordaining married men in the Amazon region as a means of addressing the shortage of Catholic priests.
Bishops backed the measure last year, but the decision needed the Pope's approval to be implemented.
Catholic priests are required to abide by the rule of celibacy upon ordination except in cases where married Anglican ministers have converted.
Celibacy is seen as the devotion of one's life to God.
A statement from the Vatican said: "The Amazon challenges us, the Pope writes, to overcome limited perspectives and not to content ourselves with solutions that address only part of the situation."
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Make them sign a pre-marital agreement might be one way.
Or make the wife abort any babies.
There are married Catholic priests who were former Anglicans and there are married priests in the Eastern Catholic Churches.
But homos are just fine.
Yes, there are. I belong to a parish of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. Our pastor is a former Anglican priest who became Catholic, lived as a layman for 5 years, and then was ordained as a Catholic priest. He is married with 9 children. He’s great, and I have no problem with the fact that he’s married. However, having seen the married priesthood up close, I do not believe most priests would be able to pull it off. It’s incredibly stressful on both him and his family. So much work falls on his wife (the mother of 9 children, don’t forget!), and his kids are under constant scrutiny. It’s really hard on his family life when he’s pulled in so many directions, sometimes in the middle of the night. I don’t recommend the married priesthood, even if there are some heroic priests like my pastor who can make it work.
Does it mean this is a churchwide rule announced when he was in the Amazon region? Or a rule which applies to the Amazon region?
Back in the day, Cardinal Woosley (England) kept a common law wife and fathered at least two children, one of whom is in my direct ancestral line. Cardinal Richelieu (France) spread his seed even wider and farther with multiple mistresses.
They are supposed to be the reason, or at least the inspiration, for the celibate priest rule.
There was a proposal to allow married men among the native tribes to be priests in the Amazon region.
I had little doubt Pope Francis would decide against it. He acted properly to evaluate the evidence from all sides of the argument giving a voice to all, then bringing the sheep back into the flock. On this he did very well.
Richelieu and Woolsey have both been dead for centuries but left a lasting legacy on the policy.
WHO puts his kids under this scrutiny?
I don’t recommend the married priesthood, even if there are some heroic priests like my pastor who can make it work.
Shouldn't the priests have any say in it? After all, it's not a Biblical requirement.
The proposal was to allow older "proven" men with stable families to be ordained as priests, but only in the Amazon region. Of course, we all know it was an attempt to get the camel's nose into the tent.
They are supposed to be the reason, or at least the inspiration, for the celibate priest rule.
No, actually the discipline (or "rule") goes back many more centuries than that.
Your argument is offset by plummeting revenues at the collection basket.
The Church is having to cancel masses and close large numbers of parishes because there just aren’t enough Priests. And the numbers are falling precipitously. There just aren’t enough young men willing to sign-up for celibacy.
Sooner or later married Priests WILL happen, and the decision will be driven by the collection basket.
The rule or discipline is based on the writings of St. Paul, who goes out of his way to state that it is his personal OPINION (and not divinely inspired) that trying to balance the demands of a full-time ministry with those of tending to your own family is just too much.
Many of us know married Protestant ministers with families, and can attest to the wisdom of his observation.
I’m not a practicing Catholic anymore, but history contradicts the notion that men won’t “sign up for celibacy”. *For centuries* men have become priests knowing it required celibacy. There was a time when the Catholic church had a bumper crop of young men willing to do it.
Only modern, Western Man, who cannot seem to reign in his sexuality finds it inconceivable that one could live a celibate life. The problem is much greater than celibacy. It’s just a broader lack of interest in Christianity in the Western world.
Also, all denominations are finding it harder to get ministers. More churches close every year than open and that is across virtually all denominations. It’s no exaggeration that we currently live in a Post-Christian society.
“Pope Francis rules against ordaining married men in Amazon”
Unless they’re married to men. Then the faggot in the Vatican would be okay with it.
It’s not a requirement either. It’s a discipline that was recommended (and adhered to) by St Paul and others. Paul basically said it’s not for everyone, but is desirable if you can do it as he did.
St Joes Elk Grove CA our paster would stand at the front door and greet everyone and process out the door and greet them again leaving. By your third visit he knew your name.
On Day a man and woman came to the door, I’m Father Peter from the I think Greek, Orthodox Church on Florin Rd and this is my wife. Our priest took a look at his wife and said, aren’t you the lucky one.
Apparently it is if you're Catholic.
My wife is an Eastern Catholic and the priest assigned to her parish is married with a family. A couple observations are that while he is a very good priest has family clearly has to make a lot of sacrifices for it and that is it much more expensive for the parish to support a married man and his family than a single man. Given it is a small parish, buying a house big enough for his wife and children is a significant burden.
Plenty of young men remain celibate well into adulthood. Some for their whole life.
Celibacy is nothing more than the state of being single—unmarried.
There is also chastity. This is adherence to to predetermined restrictions on one’s sexual behavior pursuant to Christian moral doctrine according to one’s state in life.
Legitimately married men are, of course, free to engage in the marital act with their wives without violating the laws of chastity.
For all men who have never married, however, chastity resolves into total sexual continence at all times from the onset of sexual maturity and onward. This applies to Catholic priests throughout life, of course. But a young man who never marries is actually no different from a Catholic priest in this regard. If his unmarried state continues, he proceeds through into old age and death, observing perfect sexual continence.
This is truth. Young, unmarried men must learn it, know it, live it, so that as they age they do not begin to get the wrong idea. Young men must stop viewing Catholic priests with contempt. They must stop looking down their nose at them, or thinking that they are strange, superhuman, or that they come from another planet.
Married men are not exactly off the hook either. Married men whose wives are still alive but are for one reason or another estranged from them, or, more broadly, are sexually unavailable for any reason or for any length of time, would obviously observe perfect sexual continence just as unmarried men and priests do, through into old age and death if no reconciliation or other change (e.g., wife’s illness subsides, wife dies and the man remarries, etc.) occurs.
Are these not facts? If we deny them, do we do so with impunity? If so, for how long?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.