To be fair, intolerant Vatican policies are driving a few candidats for the priesthood away from this side as well.
Posted on 09/26/2007 6:47:58 AM PDT by presidio9
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- As bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United States struggled to prevent schism Tuesday, one of their number defected to the Roman Catholic church.
Jeffrey Steenson, bishop of Rio Grande, Texas, said that remaining in the Anglican communion might take him “to a place apart from Scripture and tradition,” The Times of London reported.
Episcopal bishops have been meeting in New Orleans to discuss the church’s position on homosexuality. The consecration in 2003 of Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest in a committed relationship, as bishop of New Hampshire brought the issue to a head.
The Telegraph reported that conservatives are working on plans that would allow dioceses in the United States that disagree with the Episcopal church on homosexuality to affiliate with an African diocese that shares their views. Bishop Bob Duncan, who heads the Pittsburgh diocese, told the newspaper he expects at least five dioceses to take the step.
Church “leaders” spending their time sanctioning deviant behavior, in direct contradiction to scripture, while the church falls apart. The mentally deranged seem to be in control of a crumbling religion and perhaps that is the goal of evil.
It's entirely possible that he could become an auxiliary bishop in some suffragan diocese.
If enough Episcopals return to Catholic unity there may even be a need for an exarchate or eparchate of Anglican-Use Catholics in the USA - and a Catholic bishop who used to be an Episcopal bishop would be tailor-made to serve such a community.
Not necessarily.
Not under John Paul II's 1980 Pastoral Provision he can't. His vocational track is rather limited if in fact he receives the Sacrament of Holy Orders and being a Bishop is not on that track.
To be fair, intolerant Vatican policies are driving a few candidats for the priesthood away from this side as well.
I thought that when Episcopal priests converted to Catholicism it was pretty routine for them to be able to serve as Catholic priests....perhaps after some additional training or something.
The Pastoral Provision was the Pope responding, quite nimbly in fact, to a developing set of circumstances.
From a purely doctrinal and sacramental point of view, a married man can technically be ordained a priest and consecrated a bishop.
So at that point it becomes a matter of policy and what the Pope judges is best for the faithful.
I believe the number of former Episcopal pastors in the US who have received extraordinary formation and been ordained Catholic priests is close to 80 now.
It isn’t automatic and many who seek ordination do not receive it.
Here's why: the Episcopal church in the USA has been on the leading edge of liberal Christian Kookiness for X number of years. Women priests, Homo bishops, liberal theology. Lots of other stuff, I venture to guess.
And now one of their leaders - an implementor of those policies, teachings, doctrines - is joining your church.
Sit down and think long and hard about it.
Here's why: the Episcopal church in the USA has been on the leading edge of liberal Christian Kookiness for X number of years. Women priests, Homo bishops, liberal theology. Lots of other stuff, I venture to guess.
And now one of their leaders - an implementor of those policies, teachings, doctrines - is joining your church.
Did you even read the article? What was it, ten sentences?
There are over a billion Catholics worldwide, versus 2.7 million Episcopaliains. I fail to see how absorbing the entire Church would have any effect on Catholicism, much less absorbing one bishop who was disgusted by his own Church's policies on gays.
As an ex-Roman Catholic, I am fascinated by the idea of married priests, even if only from Episcopal priest converts. The Eastern Orthodox Church has long held that a simple parish priest guiding his flock, perhaps in a small village, could (and maybe should) be married. But if your calling is towards higher Church affairs you remain celibate.
And my point stands.
You're saying "Hooray" about a bishop, from a church that over the years has some of the most damnable liberal teachings about homosexuality, feminism, denial of miracles, exploring other religions - into the church that you are a member, probably as a priest.
Did he have a problem with all the other kooky un-Scriptural doctrines before this? Guess not. It was the practicing homosexual bishop that put him over the edge.
And your point is that this is just one individual and won't make that big of a difference.
Mind boggling.
“To be fair, intolerant Vatican policies are driving a few candidats for the priesthood away from this side as well.”
Intolerant toward what/whom? What policies. Please explain.
The guy is leaving for a good reason, do you understand what it means to be a Christian? There was once this guy name Saul, who hated Christians like you wouldn't believe, but I told he turned out ok.
I believe that a Eastern priest who is married can ascend to be a bishop if he and his wife agree that she becomes a nun. Being a widower is also a possibility. However, as a practical matter, Eastern bishops are almost always drawn from the celibate monks of the church. I should also point out that Eastern priests had to marry before ordination to priesthood (e.g., while a deacon).
The conversion of married Anglican bishops to Roman Catholicism might cause a reconsideration and possibly a tweaking of the rules of the Catholic church, as two very holy things are involved: marriage and the bishop-level of priesthood.
The way Roman Catholics think about this, is that God would not want two people joined together in marriage to be separated because He wants one of them to be a bishop. God has the power to raise up bishops without disturbing the happiness of his children. On the other hand, the power of a bishop to consecrate new priests is a wonderful power, which should be exercised to the glory of God and the service of the church. So, how do you reconcile these two thing?
My thinking is that Anglican bishops who convert will always be bishops, but will be serve auxiliary bishops, and will not be required to put away their wives. I don’t think Roman Catholics think you can un-bishop a person and I don’t think they think you can un-marry a person either.
He may not have liked the policies that he was supposed to implement. At least we'd know that the policies that come from the Vatican won't be like those that would elevate and celebrate an openly homosexual man to Bishop in Catholic Church.
And anyway, if he is a liberal, he'll feel right at home with some of those clowns in the USCCB, though, thankfully, fewer than there were a few years ago.
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