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To: samiam1972

As a Protestant, I'm glad my clergyman is married and has a family, so he can more fully understand his work and the people with whom he works.


53 posted on 04/21/2006 9:32:07 AM PDT by linda_22003
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To: linda_22003

"As a Protestant, I'm glad my clergyman is married and has a family, so he can more fully understand his work and the people with whom he works."

Your statement betrays a misconception held by many Protestants: that all Catholic Priests are unmarried. It also ignores the existence of Deacons.

There happen to be many married Priests in the eastern Catholic churches, although this is not the norm in the U.S. There are also men who, having become widowed, become Priests. It's not that unusual.

Most Deacons are married, and in the western (Roman) Catholic church, Deacons are often the de facto clergy for a specific Parish.

Your statement implies that a clergyman who is not married cannot fully understand his work and the people with whom he works. Have you considered, however, that celibacy might be something of an advantage because you can more objectively evaluate what you see? Even if celibacy were a disadvantage, a point which I do not concede, there are plenty of married clergy (e.g. Deacons) available in the Catholic churches.


57 posted on 04/21/2006 11:05:46 AM PDT by RKBA Democrat (Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.)
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To: linda_22003

"As a Protestant, I'm glad my clergyman is married and has a family, so he can more fully understand his work and the people with whom he works."

Yep! He can possibly understand his work more fully in the divorced area, also, as many protestant clergymen are divorced and remarried.


67 posted on 04/21/2006 4:15:37 PM PDT by samiam1972 (Live simply so that others may simply live!)
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