Eastern Rite Catholics have married clergy along the lines of Orthodox Greek Rite practice and yet they are fully Catholic (the so called Uniates) and I also think this is allowed among the Coptic Rite Catholics and other Eastern Rite Catholics.
So to be correct, Latin Rite Catholic clergy are the only Catholic clergy forbidden to marry.
You are correct sir.
To be correct, in 21 of the 22 Churches sui juris which comprise the Catholic Church, married men can be ordained, as a norm, to the Priesthood. Once ordained, in any of the 22 Churches, a single Priest may not then get married and retain his faculties.
Eastern Rite Catholics have married clergy along the lines of Orthodox Greek Rite practice and yet they are fully Catholic (the so called Uniates) and I also think this is allowed among the Coptic Rite Catholics and other Eastern Rite Catholics.
Yes, this is true, with reservations.
So to be correct, Latin Rite Catholic clergy are the only Catholic clergy forbidden to marry.
"Forbidden" is such a mean word. Clerical celibacy is a discipline, not a dogma.
Allow me to take this opportunity to enlighten you on the acceptance of married men into the clergy of the Eastern Catholic Churches. In October 2005, the Holy Father convened a Vatican Synod on the Eucharist. In the course of their meeting, the question of married clergy surfaced, as happens on a regular basis at different synods.
During the discussion, many of the bishops supported the proposal of "a more adequate distribution of the clergy throughout the world.", while a generic suggestion to reconsider the discipline of clerical celibacy was advanced by just a few bishops from Great Britain and New Zealand.
Reporting on this Synod, Sandro Magister notes the following:
Curiously, the most serious criticisms of ordaining married men came from exponents of the Eastern Rite Churches, in which married priesthood is the norm.
Cardinal Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir, patriarch of the Maronites of Lebanon, said:
“Half of our diocesan priests are married. However, we must admit that the marriage of priests, even if resolving one problem, also creates other serious problems. A married priest has the duty of taking care of his wife and children, to ensure their education, to secure for them a certain social standing. The priesthood was also a means of social promotion in Lebanon. Another problem arises for a married priest, that of not having misunderstandings with the parishioners. Despite this, it can be the case that the bishop cannot transfer him, due to the impossibility of his family to move with him.”
I am a registered parishioner at a Maronite Catholic Church in the US. It is the policy of Mar Nasrallah Cardinal Sfeir to NEVER assign married priests to the diaspora. The Maronites, like their Latin cousins, consider celibacy the most precious gem in the treasure of the Catholic Church . My Maronite pastor is celibate. It affords him the flexibility of serving as a 'Father' to his small congregation and assisting the local RC Diocese, as well.