Posted on 06/26/2012 3:50:51 AM PDT by Cronos
Maine's newest Roman Catholic priest has a wife and four grown children.
Sixty-two-year-old David Affleck of York was ordained this month under a 1980 papal provision that allows former married Episcopal clergy to become priests in the Catholic church.
When ordained at Portland's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Affleck became only the third married man to join the Catholic priesthood in Maine since the 1980 papal provision. He is now the only married Catholic priest.
Church officials say only a handful of former married Episcopal clergy are ordained as Catholic priests in the U.S. each year.
Affleck tells the Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/MjtWA5) he left the Episcopal church and joined the Catholic ranks about five years ago.
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You wrote:
“Guess the RCC just ignored that verse.”
What do you call your biological father?
Actually, worldwide the number of Priests has increased. It’s just we Western countries that our losing our religion.
The article is not talking about the Eastern Rites, but the RCC. Are you saying the RCC has to change because others do it differently? No, how about married Episcopals go join the Eastern Rite churches.
WHEN you get married shouldn’t determine whether you can be a Priest with a wife or not in the RCC. That kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?
The article was about the RCC, so yes, that is what I was talking about. Don’t call it dogma if you don’t wish, but it is a 1200 year tradition that every Priest I’ve run into wholeheartedly agrees with.
My FRiend, I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. I read the article and it does not mention RCC. It mentions Catholic, but not Roman Catholic Church.
If you don’t know the difference the internet explains everything.
You are apparently unaware that the Roman Catholic Church has multiple rites and that priests in the Eastern Rites are just as Roman Catholic as their leader, Pope Benedict. There are numerous Eastern Rite Roman Catholics in the USA, including conservative columnist George Weigel.
Celibacy is not against Church teachings, it's against Latin rite discipline, i.e. it is a regulation that can be scrapped at any point or even removed for some. Especially note that for all other rites in the Catholic Church, married men can become priests.
note that the Church has always had married men who become priests — in the Maronite Catholic Church, Syro-Malabar etc. In the Latin rite it is a discipline, not a teaching nor a dogma/doctrine. Celibacy had a sensible origin beginning with +Paul’s example.
The historical reasoning for this was sound -- just as we see now amongst Anglican pastors, it is difficult to have a "dynasty" and be a pastor at the same time (difficult, not impossible).
At the very least there's always gossip about the Vicar's wife and what she's wearing or the amount of money they have.
in the 8th to the 10th century most parish priests were married and the gossip of course was widespread. At the same time, monks were highly respected -- these were men who dedicated their lives to prayer. So it really began like "why can't the priest be more like the monk? perhaps celibacy is the key?"
Among the Eastern churches this history didn't occur - perhaps because the East until the 15th century was a lot more urbanized than the west.
Why they have different disciplines now is because each rite has it's own administration -- on doctrinal and dogmatic matters all the 22 churches of the Catholic Church are one. but on matters of discipline they can diverge. The Syro-Malabar Church for instance has services in syriac and has married men who become priests. They have their own administrative head who is the Patriarch and is a Cardinal-level in the overall Catholic Church
note stony that there is no different theological perspective, especially on this matter which is more a discpline and is not a dogma or doctrine inany way.
John 15 is not about irresistible grace. One still can refuse this grace of God.
Reread the first sentence of the article.
No, I am aware, and as my Priest explained it these different rites are trying to come together but still don’t practice Catholicism the same way on every given subject. That is why they are still a different rite, and not all considered part of the Latin church.
“John 15 is not about irresistible grace. One still can refuse this grace of God”
Unlikely we’ll ever agree on this.
we can disagree on whether one can or can’t resist, however John 15 clearly is about God saying they chose someone before time, not about God saying “you have no other choice”. You can argue that as a case of pre-election, but not for irresistible grace.
Yes, I am aware priestly celibacy in the Latin rite is not a dogma or doctrine in any way. It is, however, more than a discipline. It is also a long-standing tradition (with a lower case “t”), and is a matter of canon law. As such, it can be changed according to the prudential judgment of the Holy Father, who may, at any particular point in history, decide that mandatory priestly celibacy should or should not continue.
Perhaps my use of the term “theological perspective” was less than ideal. There is a different way of looking at things, theologically, in the various rites of the Roman Catholic Church. There are different emphases, too. This is one of the reasons there are different codes of canon law, traditions, ways of celebrating the liturgy, and disciplines. They did not arise from nowhere. Nor did they arise only from historical circumstances. History develops partly from circumstances, but also from the perspectives, values, emphases, and personalities of those who make it. The eastern rite liturgies, laws, disciplines, and traditions are equally valid to those of the Latin rite. Yet they reveal (or emphasize) in many cases different aspects of the one infinite God.
By using the term “theological perspective” I did not mean to imply that the eastern rites have different beliefs. There is one faith, and the members of all the various rites of the Roman Catholic Church share that faith.
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