Posted on 02/09/2022 7:35:44 AM PST by SeekAndFind
CARDINAL REINHARD MARX WITH POPE FRANCIS
A prominent Roman Catholic Church leader in Germany has said that he believes priests should be allowed to get married, opposing centuries of mandated celibacy for clergy.
Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the archbishop of Munich and a reformist ally of Pope Francis, told the German publication Sueddeutsche Zeitung that he supported clerical marriage as part of reforms to battle sex abuse.
“For some priests, it would be better if they were married — not just for sexual reasons, but because it would be better for their life and they wouldn’t be lonely,” stated Marx, as reported by The Associated Press. “We must hold this discussion.”
While Marx stressed he is not totally opposed to celibacy, he said he believed that “it would be better for everyone to create the possibility of celibate and married priests." He questioned “whether it should be taken as a basic precondition for every priest.”
Last month, the Munich law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl produced a 1,000-page report finding nearly 500 victims of abuse by church figures in the Munich archdiocese from 1945 to 2019.
The report garnered major attention in part because Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, then known as Joseph Ratzinger, served as archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1977 to 1982.
A point of outrage, according to the Catholic News Agency, was that Ratzinger was present for a meeting that sought to transfer a priest with several allegations of abuse to his diocese. The emeritus pope issued a "heartfelt request for forgiveness" in a statement issued through the Vatican this week but denied wrongdoing.
German Bishop Stefan Oster defended Ratzinger, arguing that the meeting involved referring the priest to the diocese to receive mental treatment and that Ratzinger had “entrusted himself to collaborators who committed a capital error on a decisive point.”
“We were and are all too much a part of a system — and so was Archbishop Ratzinger at the time,” explained Oster, as quoted by CNA.
Although the Roman Catholic Church has mandated celibacy for its priests since the Medieval Era, in rare circumstances it provides exemptions. For example, married clergy from the Episcopal Church can be ordained in the Catholic Church and maintain their marital union.
In 2019, the Vatican gave serious consideration to allowing older, married men to become priests in remote areas like the Amazon region in South America in response to a clergy shortage.
However, in the February 2020 papal exhortation “Querida Amazonia,” which was centered on matters of the Amazon region, Pope Francis did not directly address the issue.
Marry what?
Men?
Farm animals?
Probably be easier on choirboy’s asses too.
Marx, how ironic of a last name.
Changing the rules isn’t going to fix the problem, which is that the church has become a puppet of globalism/communism.
The falling away continues. Look up!
The Crazy Germans and their Crazy Cardinal should all become Episcopalian and they can get married be gay or whatever, no questions. That denomination already exists.
Their ‘selling’ point is to convince the general public that the majority would marry up to the opposite sex. But in reality, wouldn’t shock me if it were about 80-percent male-to-male marriages. If that were the case, a lot of parishioners would be shocked and drop out of the religion over the next decade.
Also, not dig deep into this....if you did say marriages were possible...if the 50-year old male Bishop married up a 18-year old guy...would it bother people?
(to “Old Time Religion”)
Give ‘em the sacrament of marriage,
Give ‘em the sacrament of marriage,
Give ‘em the sacrament of marriage,
It’s good enough for priests.
It was good enough for Peter,
It was good enough for Peter,
It was good enough for Peter,
And it’s good enough for priests.
It was good for Martin Luther,
It was good for Martin Luther,
It was good for Martin Luther,
And it’s good enough for priests...
Sadly, you’re 100% right. The end-game for these guys is *same-sex-married* clergy. They’re for married clergy. They’re for sodomy “marriage.” Do the math.
Some Catholics will likely scoff at this prediction as absurd. ... just as some of the Anglican/Episcopalian/Presbyterian/etc. laity too would have scoffed at the idea 50 years ago. And now that’s exactly what they’ve got.
They’ve been messing forever...and the church doesn’t pay for their mates and kids. The church would come up with clever pre-nup...to get out of any costs.
IT WOULD BE AWFUL!! WHAT ABOUT DIVORCE??? WHAT ABOUT CLOTHING?? WHAT ABOUT KIDS?? WHAT ABOUT AN ABUSIVE WIFE? A FLOOZIE??
REAL CATHOLIC PRIESTS WANT NO PART OF THIS IDEA!
“CARDINAL REINHARD MARX”
The name. Anybody recognize the name?
I know Marx, I know a Reinhard, but I only learned today about Reinhard Marx.
RE: WHAT ABOUT DIVORCE??? WHAT ABOUT CLOTHING?? WHAT ABOUT KIDS?? WHAT ABOUT AN ABUSIVE WIFE? A FLOOZIE??
Sheesh, Easter Orthodox Priests and Protestant Pastors have to face these risks all the time.
RE: They’ve been messing forever...and the church doesn’t pay for their mates and kids.
Yep, that’s one issue that has to be addressed — FINANCIAL.
But hey, if it’s not a moral issue, the financial issue can be resolved with financial support from parishioners, just like the Eastern Orthodox OR Protestant Churches.
Ha. Everyone has to face those risks.
The devil is in the details but I generally agree with this. There are married Catholic priests now; these are mainly in the Eastern Rite Catholic churches, but they also include a scattering of already married clergy from other denominations who converted to Catholicism after both their marriage and ordination. And deacons are generally married.
The Latin Rite church adopted the discipline of celibacy in the Middle Ages in response to chronic problems related to money and property. The RCC traded one set of problems for another. The lack of vocations and the homosexualization of the clergy are today far greater problems than potential misappropriation of funds by married priests. The RCC could easily retain the discipline of celibacy in some orders while allowing married clergy in many roles.
I guess I should have said Roman Rite instead of Latin Rite, but the point stands. The Eastern Rite Catholic churches have always had married clergy.
Clerical celibacy in the West was the normative discipline long before the middle ages, and had nothing to do with property.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.