Posted on 12/29/2008 1:34:54 PM PST by NYer
So he starts as a Methodist, teaches at a Presbyterian school, becomes an Episcopalian, and ends a Catholic.
Okay.
This happens more than most people think. My brother-in-law and his family in Northfield, MN went to a parish where the pastor was a widowed grandfather, and married Anglicans can receive Holy Orders.
Misleading title.
Permanent Deacons can be married. Priest can not.
Don’t think so!!
Pontiac:
Actually, in the Catholic Church, it is the Latin Church (Roman Rite) where the norm is for non-married men to be the only ones ordained. However, starting in 1980, Pope John Paul II approved Pastoral PRovision, which was set up to allow many Anglican clergy, leaving the Church of England as it moved more and more into theological heterodoxy, to be ordained as Catholic Priests, even if they were married. By most estimates, some 500 former Anglican clergy have been ordained in England and some 100 in the United States under pastoral provision, and about half of those were ordained as married Priests.
In sum, celibacy is a Church discipline, albeit, one with eschatological significance, but it is not a Catholic Doctrine/Dogma.
Cheers
The man is short and while a truly Godly man shows many signs of a Napoleonic Complex.
The Priest at Holy Angels in San Angelo (same diocese) Fr Charles Greenwell was married but I believe his wife died before his ordination. Another true man of God.
I understand completely why priests cannot and should not seek marriage. Yet those who are previously married and receive the call should not be penalized for the manner in which God has chosen to arrange their lives.
And as Fr Greenwell illustrates so very well, marriage does not preclude one from truly serving God - even as a priest.
Myself, I was a long-time Methodist, left for a non-denominational church, and then became a Catholic. My husband, a life-long Methodist, became a Catholic a year after I did.
We are very happy, and feel we made our decision similar to this gentleman. The fullness of truth is exactly what we were looking for, and we found it.
**In 1993-94, Knickerbocker and his wife, Sandie, became members of the Roman Catholic Church. **
Welcome home, Knick and Sandie.
Many people are searching for the REAL truth.
**married Anglicans can receive Holy Orders.**
After studying Catholic theology and being approved as a candidate for the priesthood by the bishop and seminary.
Nope. It’s true. There are lots of them in the south. A lot used to be Anglican. Whole churches have switched, along with their priests.
Being Orthodox, I always thought the rule was weird. I get it for bishops, but married men were allowed in the West longer than they have been not allowed. Go figure.
You are correct. There are at least 7 Anglican Parishes that converted in mass (4 in Texas alone), and their pastor was also ordained as a Catholic Priest. Here is the link to the pastoral provision website, which more clearly explains what I was mentioning above.
http://www.pastoralprovision.org/
Cheers
Pope Gives Key to Being Highly Effective Priests [Ecumenical]
Priests: Ordinary Men Made Extraordinary by Grace [Holy Orders/Chrism Mass]
The Nature of Priestly Ordination: Theological Background and Some Present Concerns
The Priesthood of Jesus Christ - Body and Blood (Confessional ... Consecration ... and Calvary)
What You [Catholics] Need to Know: Priesthood (Holy Orders) [Catholic-Orthodox Caucus]
What You {Catholics} Need to Know: Celibacy [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
New priest finds joy in sacrifice
No shortage of priests in Atlanta, more than 50 seminarians
Debt, the Vocation Killer [Catholic Caucus]
Identical twins become Green Bay priests
A Modern Roman Rite Priest reports on Classical Roman Rite Training
Number of new priests expected to rise in 2007
Father, Mother, Sister, Brother [Part One of a series on Celibacy] -- Catholic Caucus
It Takes a Village of Vocations [Part Two of a series on Celibacy] -- Catholic Caucus
Living Single and Celibate in God’s Service [Part Three of a series on Celibacy] -- Catholic Caucus
Brothers and Sisters in Christ [Part Four of a series on Celibacy] -- Catholic Caucus
The Adventure of the Priesthood [Part Five of a series on Celibacy] -- Catholic Caucus
This Is the Body of Christ [Part Six of a series on Celibacy and Vocations] -- Catholic Caucus
14 men are ordained into the priesthood (at St. Patrick's Cathedral NYC)
To Know, To Love, To Lead (Pope Benedict XVI ordains 22 new priests)
The Indispensable Priesthood -- Holy Thursday, [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
Why Does the Catholic Church Ordain Only Men to the Priesthood? Part Three[Cath/Orth/Angl Caucus]
Why Does the Catholic Church Ordain Only Men to the Priesthood? Part Two
Why Does the Catholic Church Ordain Only Men to the Priesthood? Part One [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
yes, true. thanks for clarifying.
You wrote:
“Being Orthodox, I always thought the rule was weird. I get it for bishops,...”
Why? They were originally married too.
“...but married men were allowed in the West longer than they have been not allowed. Go figure.”
No, actually the time is evenly split. Throughout the first millenium, most priests, but not all, were married. Throughout the second millenium, most priests, but not all, have taken vows of celibacy.
Not an illogical journey. The Methodist church is all about heart and faith, the Presbyterians bring intellectual rigor the Episcopalians brought (past tense) tradition and liturgy. Put all of these pieces together and your only options are to go Anglo-Catholic, Orthodox or Roman Catholic.
I will always find it odd that the Roman Church allows married priests in all of the Byzantine and Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches in union with Rome and accepts married priests from other denominations.
It’s a curious double standard.
Personally, I prefer the consistency of the Orthodox view on the matter.
You wrote:
“I will always find it odd that the Roman Church allows married priests in all of the Byzantine and Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches in union with Rome and accepts married priests from other denominations.”
You’re wrong. There is no blanket policy of married priests in the Eastern Catholic Churches. If there were then all of their priests in America would be married (except for monks of course). The reality is that few are married.
“It’s a curious double standard.”
There’s no double standard. We are talking about different things. And different policies can be applied to different things. The situation of a life-long Catholic is different than that of a convert later in life who is married.
“Personally, I prefer the consistency of the Orthodox view on the matter.”
We are consistent. You are consistent. But neither of us is perfectly consistent. The Orthodox don’t allow married bishops. Either do we of course. But that shows a certain wrinkle to the idea of a married priesthood. (Again, I know they’re almost always monks, but still, they’re priests, they’re not married, and that’s a wrinkle).
The way I look at it, we have no problems with it either way. We have married priests. So do you. We have unmarried priests. So do you.
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