Posted on 12/12/2010 3:30:55 PM PST by SmithL
Jeff Henry's long journey of faith has brought him full circle, not only back to the church in which he was baptized as an infant but also back to serving God. When he's ordained at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on June 4, he will become the Sacramento Catholic Diocese's first converted, married priest.
"This will be new for us," said Bishop Jaime Soto. "I announced it to our priests on Monday, and they're very excited. They were curious but very welcoming of the idea. I think it will be an adventure not just for Jeff and his wife but for us."
With Peg, his wife of 26 years, at his side, Henry called their grown daughter when he learned two weeks ago that the Vatican has approved his application to become a Roman Catholic priest.
"I said, 'Guess what? I'm going to be a father again,' " said Henry, 51, a former Lutheran minister who lives in Vacaville.
Under pastoral provision, Catholic canon law since 1980 has allowed former clergy from other faiths – primarily Episcopal – to be ordained into the priesthood. About 100 currently serve in this country, including a handful of former Lutherans and one converted Baptist. Few of them, according to Mary Gautier of Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, or CARA, are assigned as parish priests.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Best wishes to all.
It’s about time.
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Don't trust changes in canon law or otherwise in the Catholic Church since about 1960.
Years ago we used to pray for the “Conversion of Russia”. Now I think that we had better start praying for the “Conversion of America.”
Hi J,
you said it. That second paragraph of yours is golden, in my very humble opinion. Especially about the Latin Mass.
The author of the article seems to have been unable to resist taking a potshot about the Vow of Celibacy, not to mention the addition of the nonquote from the “FutureChurch” person. It might have been nice to see something about those priests from Eastern Christianity who convert and hear the call, or those coming from the Anglican world. Pretty decent article otherwise.
**Catholic canon law since 1980 has allowed former clergy from other faiths – primarily Episcopal – to be ordained into the priesthood. About 100 currently serve in this country, including a handful of former Lutherans and one converted Baptist. **
Glad to see that some statistics are coming out on this.
He had to complete four years of Catholic theology — so I don’t think it went quite so fast there!
I told you so! Just a little “slip” to the left ... hey, no big deal ... it’s just one priest. Slip slip slip ... right off the edge like the Episcopal church did. If there’s “leftys” in your pew, better weed em out ... they’ll take over your church just like they did our country. If you want to have a “married priest” ... then join the Episcopal church.
What draws them? A bishop zealous about prayer and the Sacraments, and serious about doctrine and discipline.
I agree with what you said, mlizzy, about Perpetual Adoration; and like you, Don Corleone, I've been praying for the Conversion of America for decades.
I'm also an advocate of No More Alter Girls. Invent special non-acolyte roles for the girls if need be (more processions! more flowers! more Marian choirs!) but let the boys see the service of the Altar as something austere and virile, aomething fit for a Man.
You are not usually one to voice such sour grapes. Give thanks that this man is answering the call to serve God.
He must have felt something or else he would not have quit as a Lutheran priest. Until we could talk to him, we really can’t tell, can we?
.....or join any of the Orthodox Churches, who have always allowed married priests, even before the great schism with the Bishop of Rome in 1054. Unmarried priests are a construct of the post - schism church.
Applications for ordination under the Pastoral Provision are vetted through Rome, and I'd imagine they'd have some questions for a man who did that.
I find it interesting that the Catholic Church has a special dispensation in regard to priestly celibacy for apostates who leave the Catholic Church and then who later become apostates from Protestant denominations.
The Bible says a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Here we find that double-mindedness is given a special dispensation. Why not grant the same privilege to faithful Catholics? Why not admit married Catholics who have been faithful to their church and their family the privilege of serving as priests?
Well, isn't that what happened here?
Who exactly in Rome is charged with "vetting"? Is it the same guy who vets out the perverts?
Do you really think that he was double minded since he converted from Lutheran to Catholic?
I sincerely think other Lutheran pastors may follow and we might see what is now happening in the Anglican Church happening in the Lutheran Church.
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