[annalex]

A married priest is a theological impossibility. A priest is a vicar of Christ who is the Bridegroom of the Christian church. A priest is already married in a spiritual sense.

When a married man becomes priest, his wife whould ordinarily enter a convent. As an act of charity, she is not required to do that under certain circumstances; yet the mariage undergoes a profound tranformation nonetheless. Through ordination the priest achieves a deeper union with God than a married couple does throught he sacrament of marriage, and the priest's previously consummated marriage becomes moot.

Protestant ministers, of course, should not be compared to priests; in their role as teachers being married is, perhaps, an advantage when ministering to married people, - as someone on this thread suggested.

[sinkspur]

A married priest is a theological impossibility.

Really?

Then how does one explain the nearly 400 Anglican priests, most married, who have been ordained Catholic priests in the last 25 years? And what about the hundreds of Eastern Rite priests, most married, throughout the world, in full union with Rome?

Through ordination the priest achieves a deeper union with God than a married couple does throught he sacrament of marriage, and the priest's previously consummated marriage becomes moot.

This is theological nonsense.

[Kolokotronis]

In great haste as I am at the office. What you have posted may well be Roman theology. It is not Orthodox theology. Orthodoxy follows the formulations of St. Ignatius of Antioch who wrote that the bishop stands in the place of Christ, the priests in the place of the apostles. And of course, the apostles were married. What you propose is in accord with some of the ancient canons for bishops but not priests. This is forcefully brought home to us at the consecration in the Divine Liturgy. It is not the priest who consecrates the bread and wine but rather the God through the Holy Spirit. Similarly, at confession, the priest does not say "Absolvo te..." but rather " May Christ our God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, forgive your sins...." or words to that effect.