Posted on 10/16/2006 8:42:58 AM PDT by NYer
One would think so!
First of all It Seems to me his comments are insulting to his former fellow Anglican priests who are married and doing a responsible ministry and to all married Protestant ministers who are well respected and considered to be doing a good job with their churches. Granted they probably don't play as much golf as the celibate Catholic clergy.
I see how it could seem such, however this article was written for a Catholic publication that is read (pretty much universally) by Catholics.
I think if he were writing for some other publication...such as Touchstone he would have written it differently, like for instance pointing out the common custom of daily Liturgy in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. Which from what I understand is on the rarer among faith traditions. As most others traditions limit services to Sundays and holy days.
And secondly the now elderly Father forgets that Peter was married and we strongly suspect that all the other Apostles (except John) were probably married,( so Jesus did not have a problem with married priests ) as were 39 popes married and many others had women friends ( platonic - oh yeah ) or boy friends.
As the New Testament Priest daily offers the Sacrifice of the New Covenant, it was a natural that Apostolic tradition would embrace permanent continency
I don't believe he can remarry.
I think you're correct. Once widowed or divorced, Roman Catholic priests cannot re-marry according to the information I received from a local RC priest. He made no mention of The Church having Canons that require married priests to take a vow of celibacy. Are there actually such Canons?
Fr. Ray Ryland is elderly. I know one of his "kids" who is in his late 40's. Fr. Ryland has 5 kids (or maybe 6).
Father Ryland covered the mention of "women companions" in the letters.
If you can find any mention in the Four Gospels of any of the twelve apostles having a wife,please let me know. At this point,four years of asking,no one,Protestant or Catholic has been able to find mention of it. I would bet quite a bit of money that you won't either.
Respectfully asked, how does this take the Apostle Paul's statments into consideration that Bishops can be married but to one wife?
I fully understand this is a discipline issue and as such I've often been confused at the staunch stance that a priest cannot be married or he cannot serve...I admire men who can sincerely honor God and serve Him by dedicating their lives to spreading the Gospel and I just don't see how it can be said that only a man who is single can successfully be a servant of God particularly when Scripture shows it's an allownace either way. If a man who is willing ot be celibate is desiring to pe a priest/pastor/minister that is outstanding and likewise I feel a man who is married desires to serve God in the same manner is a blessing from God Himself.
My dad was a pastor and we knew that we were always 2nd to his work as a servant of God. It wasn't an issue, he served admirably and with the Holy Spirit's guidance helped to bring countless souls to the knowledge of Christ as their Savior. He died in April and I cannot count the numbers of people who loved him, not because he was a nice guy or because he was a good listener, but rather because he was a faithful servant of Christ who brought the Gospel to the people in all that he did.
That's all I'm sayin...
In Christ...
You learn something new every day.
My pastor is Maronite, an Eastern Catholic Church that allows for married priests. His grandfather was a (married) priest. Yet, when he (my pastor) chose the priesthood, he chose celibacy. The Patriarch of the Maronite Church strongly encourages celibacy to the seminarians because it allows for greater flexibility and attention. While the Maronite Church allows for a married priesthood, the Patriarch on several occasions has pointed to the obstacles confronted by the married priests. First and foremost, the primary vow is marriage; the priesthood is their secondary vow. It is more difficult (and costly) to place a married priest than a celibate one since the married priest often has a family. The Maronite Church never assigns married priests outside of Lebanon.
What I meant to say,rather than "Peter may well have been married--" was,Peter may well have been widowed". Or maybe you knew what I meant and are still combing through the Gospels looking for evidence that any of the Twelve" were married. It's not there--guaranteed.
Good article.
Most Catholics are ignorant of the history of celibacy and think that it began in the eleventh or twelfth century. They don't realize that the Gregorian reforms were part of a much older tradition of clerical continence. Those who insist that the Church go back to its earlier practice of ordaining married men, don't understand what they are asking for. They don't realize that if the Church went back to its tenth century discipline of ordaining married men, that these men would be requied to remain completely chaste after ordination. They don't realize that this would mean these priests could not remarry after ordination if their wives died. They don't realize that unmarried priests would not be allowed to marry after ordination. The priests who left the priesthood over the last forty years in order to get married would NOT be allowed to return to the priesthood if this earlier tradition were adopted. This clearly is not what the advocates of a married priesthood want. What they want is something that was never permitted in the western Church.
The Eastern Catholic experience is instructive in many ways, as is the experience of married Protestant pastors. Marriage takes a great deal of time and effort; so does a ministerial vocation. Doing both effectively is a great burden.
A survey of Protestant pastors a while back found that something like 60% said that their families suffered because of their work. When you consider the divorce statistics, 60% probably just identifies the ones who admit that their families suffer.
And it's not just pastors, of course - any vocation/profession that doesn't come with fixed hours is going to make family life much more difficult. Conversation in my family, "If we go to the beach for the weekend, is the office going to call you?" "I don't know; maybe." "Fine, then we won't go. If you're going to spend the weekend on the phone with the office, I'd rather be at home with my washer and dryer."
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