Denied a family, he left priesthood

Cincinnati Enquirer ^ | May 02, 2004 | Dan Horn

[Investment Biker]

Savio Russo loved being a priest.

The Cincinnati man taught high school, counseled the sick and presided over baptisms, funerals and weddings.

But after 14 years, he felt something was missing. "It was a pretty exciting life," Russo, 59, says today. "But it was lonely."

He blames that loneliness on the celibacy required of priests, a rule that Russo says ultimately drove him from the priesthood. Now married with four children, he regrets that his desire for a family meant he could no longer be a priest.

Questions about celibacy are being raised as U.S. Catholics struggle with a severe priest shortage.

"How do you get more priests? Go to optional celibacy," says Dean Hoge, author of Evolving Visions of the Priesthood. "The priest shortage would be over."

A survey for Hoge's book found that 71 percent of lay Catholics and 53 percent of diocesan priests support optional celibacy.

But the church is not a democracy, and rewriting rules that have been in place for 800 years is no easy task. Any change in the celibacy rule would require the approval of the Vatican, which has shown little support for that move.

The pope believes a priest can best serve his flock if he is solely devoted to his church, and not distracted by demands of family life.

The archdiocese does have one married priest - the Rev. Gregory Lockwood, a former Lutheran minister. The church accepts ministers who convert from other faiths, even if they are married at the time.

"I'm glad they let me work, but I have a very special spouse," says Lockwood, who also has five kids. He's wary of optional celibacy because the priesthood is hard on families. "People really underestimate how much people depend on you," he says.

Other problems include the difficulty of supporting a family on a priest's $20,000 salary, the prospect of priests getting divorced and the pitfalls of transferring entire families to new parish assignments.

"It's one thing to move a priest from Cincinnati to Wapakoneta. It's another to move a priest, a wife and four kids to Wapakoneta," Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk says. "Many see ordained married men as a quick fix. It's not quick, and I'm not sure it's a fix."

Supporters of optional celibacy say Americans are transferred and juggle low-paying jobs all the time.

They believe that ending the celibacy rule would draw thousands more prospective priests to U.S. seminaries, where enrollments have dropped from 6,600 to 3,400 over the past 30 years.

"We are unnecessarily restricting the priesthood, and that's not serving the church well," says Sister Christine Schenk, director of the reform group, FutureChurch.

[gcruse]

The pope believes a priest can best serve his flock if he is solely devoted to his church

"Better to have no priest than one who might get distracted."

[Meldrim]

IF we are at 3400 seminarians then we are doing OK. Somebody should go to Lincoln and ask Bruskewitz how he manages his success.

[grellis]

Anyone who takes holy orders is a bride of Christ. If we allow priests to marry is the church giving the green light to polygamy?

[Mfkmmof4]

Even if celibacy was eliminated one still has to be called to be a priest.

[ikka]

maybe the shortage is caused by... inattention by the leaders in that area of the country?

[yooper]

"If we allow priests to marry is the church giving the green light to polygamy?"

Huh?! Does not compute.

[Investment Biker]

Then what of the priest that is married that is mentioned in this story?

[A.A. Cunningham]

rewriting rules that have been in place for 800 years is no easy task.

More revisionist history.

The church accepts ministers who convert from other faiths, even if they are married at the time.

The Pope grants dispensations for ordination to some married Protestant ministers, mostly Episcopalians, who convert to Catholicism. Approximately 200 in North America since the Pope began granting dispensations in 1980. Those who are ordained agree that if their wife should precede them in death that they will then adopt the discipline of celibacy until their own demise.

[Investment Biker]

I have been to mass with this priest. I think that the article has some things wrong.

For example the Reverend actually is attached to the St. Louis diocese. He married a Catholic woman, I believe, that was originally from Cincinnati that is how he wound up in the Cincinnati Diocese.

[ventana]

And BTW, there has been an across the board decline in vocations in all faiths; this is true for those who allow marriage. Where Diocese are conservative, and a fair degree of orthodoxy is maintained, vocations are on the rise. The many Protestant sects are having an extremely difficult time attracting ministers: low pay, less then desirable housing allowances, and the pressures of having to answer to a congregation which may be overbearing are all named as causes of the decline, that and the secular nature of today's society. It's just the Catholics everybody talks about; go figure! V's wife.

[Cicero]

There is a close correlation between lack of vocations and liberalism. It was mostly liberal priests who ran for the exits during the touchy feely days of the 70s. And it is mostly in liberal dioceses where the Mass has been turned into a circus where vocations are scarce. Famously, there are plenty of vocations in the conservative dioceses and the conservative religious orders.

If a priest can't give his life to Christ and His Church, then maybe he doesn't really have a vocation.

[DameAutour]

Here's something I don't understand, perhaps a Catholic would be kind enough to explain it to me.

I thought that Catholics believe that priests are "called" to the priesthood, presumably by God. And it's pretty close to once a priest, always a priest, which is why pedophile priests are moved and "helped" instead of simply kicked out of the priesthood. They're still viewed as priests, right?

Is this man who is now married still a priest? Does God's "call" no longer count since he got married? Is marriage enough to strip you of your priesthood, but pedophilia not?

[Conservative til I die]

Interesting article that offered a couple of new aspects of the issue.

[bethelgrad]

"Other problems include the difficulty of supporting a family on a priest's $20,000 salary"


I believe this is the real issue. They don't want to have to pay a high enough salary for their priests to support their families.

[Conservative til I die]

Nicely loaded question. Almost thought you were genuinely curious. Let's see if someone takes the flamebait.

[Conservative til I die]

I believe this is the real issue. They don't want to have to pay a high enough salary for their priests to support their families.

Yeah, sure it is. Tell me, care to support your claim with facts and evidence? Or just your own pre-conceived notions?

[sinkspur]

Anyone who takes holy orders is a bride of Christ. If we allow priests to marry is the church giving the green light to polygamy?

Ask the 200 Anglican dispensation married priests. Or the Eastern Rite married priests.

[onyx]

Heretofore, I have always been more of a Tradionalist,
but now, I really don't care. Let them marry.
Better to have married priests than homosexual-pedophiles.

[sinkspur]

Those who are ordained agree that if their wife should precede them in death that they will then adopt the discipline of celibacy until their own demise.

Like permanent deacons. And, the permanent diaconate is the only vocation that has been growing in the Latin Rite Church.

20,000 men, mostly married, have been ordained since 1980, in the United States.

That's 830, every year, on average.

That puts the lie to the argument that Catholic men are not willing to serve the Church.