www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Married Orthodox Priests

I am curious about married Orthodox priests in the USA.

Are they as good or better than a celibate priest?

Does their marriage and children help or hurt their ministry?

On the bad side is there divorce or infidelity in their ranks?

Sincerely,

Paul

This is an ancient practice which has always worked well, most priests I know (married priests) are healthy men who enjoy a normal life without problems.
The cases of infidelity may be very scarce because a priest cannot remarry (when you are a priest you can not get married, and if the wife of a priest dies he cannot get married again).
If a married priest wants to reach the episcopacy he would have to leave his wife and his wife would have to become a nun.
I know about one Mexican man who is know studying at the OCA seminary, he is married and he will become a priest soon, today, all priests of the communities here, are celibate and monastic.

dear Paul:

Are you specifically asking about "Orthodox" priests - as opposed to "married 'Eastern Catholic' priests.

and Are you specifically asking about "in the USA" - as opposed to e.g. Canada, Latin America, Australia?

herb.

Dear Herb,

Yes, I am asking specifically about Orthodox priests (because there aren't enough Eastern
Catholic married priests in the USA and they haven't been around very long).

About "in the USA", well I wouldn't mind hearing about other married Orthodox priests
from across the globe, but I'm more specifically interested in how marrried Orthodox
priests fare in western cultures (USA and UK, Western Europe, Australia, etc.)

I hope that clarifies things.

Keep those replies coming.

Paul

dear Paul:

Actually, you may get more responses if you ask about Married Eastern Catholic priests in e.g. Canada, Australia, Latin America, or Western Europe.

Certainly in Canada, there have been married Byzantine Catholic priests for quite a while now. No one bats an eye about it. The Presbytera is held in honour there. It is now so much taken for granted, that monastic clergy (when not dressed accordingly) are sometimes asked where their wives are!

There was just another ordination of a married man in the Eparchy of Toronto and Eastern Canada just a few weeks ago, I am told. A Big celebration. Nothing clandestine about it. Apparently his RC Priest friend came and concelebrated! And the Presbyteras and Diakonissas sit at the head table at the Praznyks along with their clerical spouses and Vladyka.

Many of the seminarians are already married. It is normal to see a young fellow there in pidriasnyk [cassock] with his spouse beside him. Glory to God!

herb.

Paul, we have married priests in the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the USA who are retired.

Married priests have never disappeared in the Ukrainian Catholic Church, but were certainly more scarce in the USA even ten or twenty years ago.

We are generally VERY happy with our married priests.

They themselves are good pastors and the Presbyteras REALLY MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE!

The married priests are BY FAR the BEST THEOLOGIANS of our Church. So much so that some of us wish that an exception should be made in their case regarding ordaining monastics to the episcopacy.

Sermons of married priest often are very down to earth and in touch with the common experience of us jo-shmo's slugging it out in the trenches of the world.

herb.

ps: married priests and Orthodoxy are not necessarily correlative. That is:being a married priest is no guarantee that one is on " 'the Orthodox side' of the Uniya".

I am curious about married Orthodox priests in the USA.

I assume this is a healthy curiosity?

Are they as good or better than a celibate priest?

Better of course because they have to be obedient to their bishop and spouse!

Does their marriage and children help or hurt their ministry?

Depends on the priest, his matushka and his kids. When they help the result is a healthy and formidable power in the Church.

On the bad side is there divorce or infidelity in their ranks?

Of course priests are human and priest get defrocked, leave the Church and commit sins of the flesh. The priest is not a super Christian but a sinner who by grace, carries the office of the priesthood.

Yours in Christ,
Fr Serafim

Dear All;

Thank you all for your replies.

I didn't realize Canada has a number of Eastern Catholic married priests.
I'll have to look up the number some time.

Of course our brother Orthodox married priests are important in determing how
a married clergy serves the church.

I am not suprised to hear that the sermons of a married priest are uplifting.
Our RC parish has 6 married deacons with 10-25 years of service. I like their
preaching. There is no difference in overall quality in preaching in our Deacons
compared to our celibate priests.

Father Serafim: I enjoyed your straight answers and sense of humor too!
God bless you.

Are their any books which tell the stories of married Orthodox & Catholic clergy?

Paul