Cardinal Lubomyr Husar of Kiev-Halych
Can someone, in a nutshell, explain why priests shouldn’t be allowed to marry if the principal reason they were barred from it so long ago had to do with the inheritance of property? Is it just because it’s become so entrenched in the Church? I mean, I can understand the theological arguments for it, but it really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me if it wasn’t originally barred for those reasons...
“”Abolishing celibacy is not a solution in itself,” he said. “The quality of the priest does not depend on whether or not he is married. This has been our experience, and I think people are wrong if they think the vocations problem can be resolved by ordaining married persons. It will not ensure a large number of vocations.
“I come from a priestly family,” he said. “My grandfather was a priest, and other members of the family were priests; some were married, others were not.
“If a person is good, he will be a good priest, and this does not depend on the fact that he is married,” Cardinal Husar said.”
+Lubomyr the Loose (as in loose cannon) is so seldom right that it is worthy of comment when he is...thus my comment!
Good comments from the Cardinal. Celibacy is not the underlying issue with regard to vocations.
I support married Priests in the eastern churches because it’s our tradition. Beyond that, it isn’t a “solution” to a problem. You just pick up a whole new set of challenges.
I read a statistic somewhere that under Communism (I don’t know if that has changed) 70% of Ukrainian Catholic Priests remained celibate.
I wish I could find the link.
Are there statistics anywhere on what percentage of each rite are celibate vs. married worldwide. I have heard Maronite Priest in Lebannon, it’s about 50/50, but celibate everywhere else worldwide.
I’ve also heard that G’hiz Catholic Priests it runs about 98% celibate (I heard this from a G’hiz rite Seminarian).
Are statistics available anywhere?