Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Pope Reportedly Promises "Solutions" to Priestly Celibacy
Channel News Asia ^ | 7/13/14 | AFP

Posted on 07/13/2014 6:35:41 AM PDT by marshmallow

Pope Francis promised "solutions" to the issue of priestly celibacy in an interview on Sunday that raised the possibility the Catholic Church could eventually lift a ban on married priests, but was quickly refuted by the Vatican

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis promised "solutions" to the issue of priestly celibacy in an interview on Sunday that raised the possibility the Catholic Church could eventually lift a ban on married priests, but was quickly refuted by the Vatican.

Interviewed by Italy's La Repubblica daily, Francis also condemned child sex abuse as a "leprosy" in the Church and cited his aides as saying that "the level of paedophilia in the Church is at two per cent".

"That two per cent includes priests and even bishops and cardinals," the pope was quoted as saying.

Asked whether priests might one day be allowed to marry, Francis pointed out that celibacy was instituted "900 years after Our Lord's death" and that clerics can marry in some Eastern Churches under Vatican tutelage.

(Excerpt) Read more at channelnewsasia.com ...


TOPICS: Catholic; Ministry/Outreach; Theology
KEYWORDS: catholic; celibacy; pope; popefrancis
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120 ... 321-332 next last
To: Iscool
That's true...But failing at the first one is a fair indication that you may fail at the second one...

NOT at all. One can change, learn and adapt.

Since the skills sets are so different, one can be a VERY good vicar, especially when one doesn't have to
*support a wife and family
*worry about children's lives, sins, problems, futures, fiends
*be concerned about affording proper education
*worry about wife's health/happiness
*deal with mortgages
*have IN-LAWS

The celibate cleric can devote 100% of his time to his
*parishioners' needs,
*the usual fund raising,
*the vicarage upkeep (painting, plumbing, gardening etc.)
*marital spats of his parishioners,
*any domestic abuse he may get wind of,
*wayward teens,
*possessions by demoniacs (I had to throw that in.)
*spiritual crises
*alcohol and drug problems
*sudden catastrophe in a parishioner's life
*counseling the despairing families, battling spouses, drug/alcohol problems, recently widowed, family deaths,
*referring problems of any kind to specialists,
ETC.

AND SO MUCH MORE that may come up. SOMETIMES the married vicar may have BOTH a parishioner and family crisis at the same time. Who gets his attention first and most?

81 posted on 07/13/2014 1:36:23 PM PDT by cloudmountain
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 71 | View Replies]

To: Iscool
"I thought marriage was supposed to be voluntary?... Where did you get that idea???

Now you've surprised me. You "don't" think marriage is supposed to be voluntary?

In the Catholic Church, lack of consent would render an attempted marriage "null." That means there would be an "annulment." It would be considered canonically invalid.

82 posted on 07/13/2014 1:36:35 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o (Most of us know more from being old, than from being told.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: GeronL

And a meat cleaver is a permanent fix for what?


83 posted on 07/13/2014 1:38:27 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o (Most of us know more from being old, than from being told.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 75 | View Replies]

To: Iscool
And then the Apostles ALL left their wives, children and families. THAT's a solution: JUST LEAVE.

THEN there are always the Judases.

84 posted on 07/13/2014 1:38:54 PM PDT by cloudmountain
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 73 | View Replies]

To: Mrs. Don-o

uncelibacy?

lol

//kidding


85 posted on 07/13/2014 1:41:01 PM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 83 | View Replies]

To: Iscool

Interesting how the whole debate is about church policy, tradition, *historically*, yada, yada, yada.

Not much looking at what Scripture says about the qualifications of a deacon or elder.


86 posted on 07/13/2014 1:41:27 PM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Iscool
"Celibate" means not in the married state. That's all it means.

Since a man is permitted sex only with his wife, a man who is celibate would be obliged also to be abstinent.

"Celibate" does not mean "virginal." A widower who is abstinent after his wife's death, is not virginal but he is celibate.

87 posted on 07/13/2014 1:43:00 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o (Most of us know more from being old, than from being told.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 80 | View Replies]

To: GeronL

Reminds me of that guy whose wife had a “solution” a couple years back-— what was his name? Bobbit? I believe it involved a steak knife...


88 posted on 07/13/2014 1:48:26 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o (Cheese.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 85 | View Replies]

To: cloudmountain
For a priest his LIFE is service to God. For a minister, it would have to be less, even if there were more ministers. A man can't give 100% to both, can he?

Even a priest has to eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom.

A man called by God into the ministry is simply that, a man called by God into the ministry.

Show me where either single men or married men are disqualified in Scripture from serving in that capacity and show me where in Scripture marriage precludes giving oneself 100% to God.

Why does the Catholic church put demands on men that God never does?

Seems Catholics have a hard time comprehending the thought that whether we eat, drink or whatever we do, we can do ALL to the glory of God. There's this mentality that the secular and the sacred are somehow separated and that if you're doing one, you can't be doing the other, so being married means a man can't be serving God completely. What a bunch of nonsense.

A married person can be just as able to serve God completely and live a life glorifying Him as a single person. There's no inherent virtue to being single that makes a person ore capable of living for God or glorifying Him that being married.

89 posted on 07/13/2014 1:49:09 PM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: steve86

Trial balloons perhaps.


90 posted on 07/13/2014 1:51:48 PM PDT by piusv
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: steve86

Trial balloons perhaps.


91 posted on 07/13/2014 1:51:49 PM PDT by piusv
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: Biggirl; Iscool
At least NOW there is 0% percent tolerance of such horrible sinful sins and efforts to clean it up.

After how many hundreds of years?

And that only because of the negative publicity from the press after the people involved refused to be silenced.

Hardly an impressive action, doing something about it only after you've been caught.

92 posted on 07/13/2014 1:52:12 PM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: Mrs. Don-o
Well, it IS a voluntary thing. If you don't want to be celibate, you don't choose a celibate vocation.

That's just rationalization.

There is no choice about the vow of celibacy for someone who is a priest. It's imposed on those who would choose the priesthood.

Choosing the priesthood is voluntary. The celibacy attached to it is not. If someone has to fore go the priesthood because of the celibacy rule, that celibacy is not voluntary.

Matter of fact, if it's a rule, it's not voluntary.

93 posted on 07/13/2014 1:57:53 PM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 60 | View Replies]

To: Iscool

But tradition trumps Scripture so they can ignore that.


94 posted on 07/13/2014 1:58:30 PM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 61 | View Replies]

To: cloudmountain; Iscool
Iscool:That's because overseers are called to oversee the flock...And the first requirement is that the overseer have a wife and family; to show that he can run his household well before he is put in charge of overseeing the flock of God...

cm:Lol. Being a good husband and father ISN'T the same at all as being a good priest, vicar or minister. Success at one isn't a guarantee for success at the other.

A pastoral flock is NOT comprised of a wife and children. The flock is comprised of children and adults who are looking for spiritual guidance, not parenting or being a husband.

VERY different skills sets.

You're laughing at Scripture? Really?

Iscool did not make that up.

Take it up with God who says.....

1 Timothy 3:1-5 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?

The Holy Spirit does not see the distinction that the Catholic church sees (or rather makes).

95 posted on 07/13/2014 2:04:49 PM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 67 | View Replies]

To: cloudmountain; Iscool
And then the Apostles ALL left their wives, children and families. THAT's a solution: JUST LEAVE.

Show us the chapter and verse.....

On the contrary, this is also what the Holy Spirit through Paul says.....

1 Corinthians 9:4-5 Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?

96 posted on 07/13/2014 2:10:43 PM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 84 | View Replies]

To: metmom
Matter of fact, if it's a rule, it's not voluntary.

I find it interesting that this line of argument is used here, where in every other aspect of life it is rejected. For example if you sign up for a credit card and are then subject to its terms and conditions including having disputes adjudicated via arbitration do we not say that signing up for that credit card is voluntary? We certainly would at FR. That is, unless, someone is advocating that matters of Faith be completely devoid of reason.

97 posted on 07/13/2014 2:10:51 PM PDT by JPX2011
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 93 | View Replies]

To: JPX2011

Show us in Scripture where God demands celibacy of those He has called into service as ministers of the Gospel.


98 posted on 07/13/2014 2:12:34 PM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 97 | View Replies]

To: metmom
Show us in Scripture where God demands celibacy of those He has called into service as ministers of the Gospel.

Jesus and St. Paul commend celibacy.

The Church doesn't force anyone to be celibate. It's a choice men make when they enter the priesthood.

Celibacy is a discipline, not a dogma.

In some Catholic (Eastern) Rites, priests may marry.

And some married Anglican converts to Roman Rite Catholicism have been allowed to enter the Catholic priesthood.

99 posted on 07/13/2014 2:17:03 PM PDT by St_Thomas_Aquinas ( Isaiah 22:22, Matthew 16:19, Revelation 3:7)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 98 | View Replies]

To: metmom
Show us in Scripture where God demands celibacy of those He has called into service as ministers of the Gospel.

What for? I'm just asking why you would accept sound conservative principles on the one hand and reject them on the other. God is not unreasonable. Unless on is a Muslim and for them God is above all of that "man-made" reason and logic stuff.

100 posted on 07/13/2014 2:19:51 PM PDT by JPX2011
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 98 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120 ... 321-332 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson