[Porterville]

Of course they should, as long as they are no longer Catholic Priest.

[ASA Vet]

To each other? In some of the CommiecRAT States they can.

[ConservativeMind]

If they vowed they would not marry, then they shouldn't marry.

If the Pope mandates they, as priests, cannot marry, then it should be followed, as well.

[sitetest]

Why is an Orthodox Christian butting in where his opinion is unwanted?

However, I'll note that in neither any Rite of the Catholic Church nor in any Orthodox Church do "priests have a right to marry."

Rather, married men are permitted to become priests. And even in Orthodoxy, only married men who will be parish priests, as opposed to monks, and who will not be bishops, may be ordained to the priesthood.

[wagglebee]

The Church IS NOT a democracy, this matter has been settled and reaffirmed by successive Popes for centuries. Any priest who cannot remain celibate will have no problem being released from his vows. Nothing else needs to be said on the subject.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Drehers' comments regarding the Catholic Church can and should be aired out and placed on the lawn.

[carolinalivin]

I don't think marrying is a right for priests. It's whatever the church decides.

I don't see a problem with it. There are advantages and disadvantages.

From a church dogma standpoint, it's the pope's call. And we won't go to hell or heaven one way or the other.

The church is like a giant ship. It takes forever to turn (change some policies). They may or may not change it, but if they do, thousands will rent their clothing and pull their hair out. The rest of us, will go to mass and meet the Mrs.

[Gay State Conservative]

If Roman Catholic priests are not allowed to marry,it will come to pass (within the lifetimes of most folks on FR) that there won't be any more candidates for the priesthood that we would want to see become priests.

Also,I can't understand why Episcopal priests who convert to Catholicism and become Catholic priests are allowed to serve as priests and remain married yet no other priests are.

[xzins]

Since another person is involved, I don't think it makes sense to think of it as a right to marry.

[xzins]

Since another person is involved, I don't think it makes sense to think of it as a right to marry.

[Salvation]

This issues has been discussed for a long time on FR -- here are the links. Perhaps you missed them.

Pope Defends Clergy Celibacy Order
Has the Time Come to Consider Making Celibacy Truly Optional In the Western Church?
Catholic Scandals: A Crisis for Celibacy?
Celibacy of the priesthood is a church strength, not a liability
Celibacy s history of power and money

Pope: Priests Must Stay Celibate
Giving Thanks for the Good Shepherds ( A Defense of Priestly Celibacy)
Don't end celibacy for priests
The celibate superhero
Priestly Celibacy And Its Roots In Christ

How to Refute Arguments Against Priestly Celibacy
Priestly Celibacy Reflects Who - and Whose - We Are[Father George W.Rutler]
Celibacy
Tracing the Glorious Origins of Celibacy
God’s call to celibacy for the sake of His Kingdom - by Card. George

Vatican Says Celibacy Rule Nonnegotiable
Bishop Attacks Move to End Celibacy
A response to Fr. Joseph Wilson's defense of mandatory celibacy
The gift of Priestly celibacy as a sign of the charity of Christ, by Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Archbishop Dolan:"We Need to Be Renewing Our Pledge to Celibacy, Not Questioning It"

Celibacy is gift cherished by church
Celibacy Will Save the Priesthood
Celibacy Defended by EWTN's Fr. Levis
Call To Action: Dump Celibacy
The (Catholic) Church Has Always Prospered When Celibacy Is Honored

John Paul II Hails "Inestimable Value" of Priestly Celibacy
For Priests, Celibacy Is Not the Problem
Fr. Shannon Collins Discusses Celibacy
5 Arguments Against (Catholic) Priestly Celibacy and How to Refute Them
Why A Married Priesthood Won't Remedy the Priest Shortage

New Vatican Document on Homosexuality and the Priesthood Coming Before Fall 2005
Catholic priests demand the right to marry
Catholic priests urge Church to reconsider celibacy rules
Alternative Priests´ Council Hits Back on Mandatory Celibacy
Married Priests? The English Experience

Saying Yes to God: a Look into Vocations
New Vatican Document to Eliminate 1961 Papal Ban on Ordaining Homosexuals
Saying Yes to God: a Look into Vocations
Is it time to ordain married men to the Catholic priesthood?
40% of Scots priests want end to celibacy

A small, sturdy band of 'John Paul priests'(JPII legacy of conservative priests)
Yes, Gay Men Should Be Ordained
Cardinal says Priests will marry
Fathers, Husbands and Rebels: Married Priests
An Unneeded Headache (Vatican document on [NOT] admitting homosexual to the priesthood)

Vatican Prepares Draft Directives Against Admitting Gays as Priests
From Anglican to married Catholic priest
Spain gets first married priest
Spain (R) Catholic Church ordains first married priest
The Catholic Church - East-West Difference Over Priestly Celibacy

ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF SCRANTON TO RECEIVE FIRST ECUSA PRIEST
Defending Chastity in the Priesthood
Ordination of married men is raised at Vatican synod
Patriarch of Venice deemphasizes ordination of married men to the priesthood
Cardinal Pell: Ending Celibacy Rule Would Be a Blunder

Priest shortage stems from crisis of faith, ignorance of the infinite, not celibacy, say Bishops [at Synod]
Synod Affirms Priestly Celibacy
Married Priests Aren’t the Answer (a seminarian states his view)
5 Arguments Against Priestly Celibacy and How to Refute Them
(Catholic) Church makes a clear distinction between chastity and celibacy, says Priest

Why Not Married Priests? The Case for Clerical Celibacy
Married, ex-Episcopalian ordained a Catholic priest in California
Getting It Right:The Foundation of Friendship (What can a celibate priest really teach us about love
Another One Takes the Plunge [swims the Tiber]
Following the Signs (to a priestly vocation)

Long Journey to Rome (Former Southern Baptist Pastor Now a Traveling Crusader for Catholic Church)
Ex-Lutheran bishop found Catholic rock: Joseph Jacobson to be ordained Catholic priest by Christmas
The Gift: A Married Priest Looks at Celiba[cy]
Vatican Reaffirms Celibacy for Priests
Pope, Curia Aides Reaffirm Value of Priestly Celibacy (detailed Vatican response)

Should Catholic priests have the right to marry?

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Shouldn't have catholic priests to begin with and now we are to discuss whether they should marry or not? ROFL. Same goes for imams. What a sham all of it has become.

[DogwoodSouth]

First of all, to answer the original thread title/question "Should Catholic priests have the right to marry?," the obvious answer is "no." A priest who has been ordained has voluntarily surrendered the option of marriage, "for the benefit of the kingdom."

Now, as for the spirit of the question, which may be better worded to read: "should the Catholic Church begin to allow more married men to seek ordination?," this "conservative" Catholic believes the answer is yes. At the present moment, however, according to Rome, the question is closed. As a loyal Catholic, I willingly concede to the judgment of our Holy Father on this and every other question of faith and morals. I do believe that in the near future the Roman church may revisit the subject and may begin by loosening the requirements for the granting of a papal dispensation from the normal celibacy requirements for ordination to the presbytery (in other words, adult men who convert to the Church from other Christian faith traditions where married men are ordained may become just as eligible as Anglican and Lutheran pastors for ordination). After that, I could see the Church then lifting the celibacy requirement for the so-called "vir probati," older, married men who have raised their families and are well-grounded in the faith.

Of course this is all just speculation on my part. I simply recognize that: a) there is nothing wrong (in any way: moral, traditional, Scriptural or other) with married priests. The Church also recognizes as much. b) in some areas of the world, there will be priest shortages in the near future which will be severe enough to warrant immediate attention from ecclesiastical authorities.

I also agree with the observation that many conservative Catholics are hesitant to indicate their willingness to support a widespread lifting of the celibacy requirement within the Roman Rite because they are afraid such a move would be viewed as a concession to "liberal" demands. I think the observation is probably very accurate.

[Proud2BeRight]

I wonder if they could marry, would some of the ISSUES of that religion been reduced?

[bornacatholic]

Still, I think it's worth talking about, especially because to open up the Catholic priesthood to married men requires no change in the Church's doctrinal teaching.

*Hey, Rod. You UnPoped. Shut the Hell up. The Pope has just recently said it ain't gonna change.

[FormerLib]

There are married Roman Catholic priests in the Eastern Rite churches.

The real question is, why is there a double standard for Roman Catholic priests?

[jackieaxe]

Yes, it was a power hungry Pope, not Jesus who took away a Priests ability to marry. God also gave us a natural drive to mate.

[steadfastconservative]

Why are you posting an article by Rod Dreher, who left the Church? What can this apostate possibly contribute to the argument on clerical celibacy? For one thing, he is wrong about celibacy having been "imposed" on the Church only during the Middle Ages. Before 1139, when the Church prohibited married men from receiving Orders, all clerics, whether they were married or single, were required to practice perfect continence, that is, to be be perfectly chaste, after ordination. And this had been the ancient practice of the Church since patristic times. At the Council of Trullo in 691, the Eastern Churches departed from this practice when they decided that married priests and deacons could have conjugal relations after ordination, that they only needed to observe only periodic rather than perpetual continence after being ordained.

[ThanhPhero]

Catolic Priests have the right to marry now. They simply lose their faculties when they do and may not function as priests anymore.