www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Parish Life & Evangelization Why married priests won't solve the vocation shortage

I second Alice's request...that was a lovely prayer, Fr. Gregory...thank you for posting it.

Gaudior, who knows how much priests need our prayers

Alice, If you want...I can do that! Part of my 'Moderator' duties...hehehe...consider it done.

Your brother in the Lord,
+Fr. Gregory

The Prayer for Priests is now posted on the TOP of the PRAYER section of the Forum!

I hope many/everyone will pray for all of us!

In His great mercy,
+Fr. Gregory The Prayer for Priests

Pseudo-Athanasius,

I often wonder why the Latin Catholic Church has received so many married clergy into their ranks. They must be solving some problem by doing this. I believe there are more married Latin Catholic priests serving the U.S. than married Eastern Catholic priests. One one hand, Rome leaves the back door open in their own house for married clergy when it is not a tradition, but on the other hand, Rome leaves the front door closed for those homes where married clergy was always a tradition. Might makes right.

Joe

Good point, Theophan. The rise of the sychophant cleric is just a result of playing the game. I often thought how interesting it is for the military and navy to have people whose sole job it is to criticize the decisions of their leaders (without fear of being fired, transferred, or silenced, or referred to takes tests with some shrink). But at least the sychopant cleric went throught the program and received the "mystique of the priesthood." For this we pray.

Joe

Dear Joe,

Very good, insightful points, as always (born of experience and suffering, no doubt).

We still have parish priests here who prefer to get priests from Poland, rather than from seminaries here, as the former are SUPER obedient!

Your comment on the Roman Church is well put.

I guess if all the bishops and metropolitans of the vagante, internet groups wanted to join the Roman church today - they would probably gain entry, wives and all.

If you ever want to get ordained an archbishop over the internet, I think I can help you . . .

Alex

Fr. Gregory,

I assume he married without properly leaving the order, and his marriage was invalid? Otherwise his divorce and subsequent restoration to priestly ministry, IMHO, mocks the Sacrament of Marriage.

WANTED: Married Byzantine Priests:
Average salary: 22K/Yr.
Requirements:
Must have a full time job to support your family.
Must be available weekends.
Must have an employer who will allow a flexible work schedule.
Must have an employer who will allow time off for funerals.
Must have the ability to deal with unhappy clients, dissatisfied wives, unruly children, dissatisfied and unruly parishioners.
Must provide for your own house, mortgage, house and family insurance, college funds.
Must be willing to relocate family, schools, friends, and job on a Bishop�s whim.
Married Roman Catholic Priests must also have wives who will have the ability to share kitchen and laundry privileges with other women in one house, or be able to pay for their own lodging, bail, and all of the above requirements.
If interested��see a shrink, or call your local chancery.

R�sum�s from married men to be priests should be pouring in with all those "perks and incentives!"

Dear Father Deacon John, +Through your prayers, may the Lord have mercy on us and save us!

Yes, he left, I believe, during the early 70's, but applied for dispensation AFTER the election of Pope John Paul II (when laicizations and permission to marry had ceased being given out)...so his marriage was invalid in the eyes of the Church. He was an excellent preacher and a good priest and I presume is again.

Your brother in Christ,
+Gregory, priestmonk

Excuse me, my friend, but many have answered the call to the priesthood and knew well enough what the "perks" were going to be, but were still willing to go for it. Unfortunately, that they also wanted to be married ruled against them. They soon voted with their feet. You make it sound almost impossible to believe that a man would be such a dolt to want to serve his church under such conditions. But how many HAVE left for Orthodoxy and are happily married? No one had to see a shrink because of it. Though your little post was done in humor, I hope, it makes light of those vocations who DID answer the call to the priesthood, especially those who gave up the "glories of the celibate priesthood" (actual words from a seminary conference on the topic) for marriage and ministry in another church communion. I am not amused. Many of those resumes were immediately thrown into File 13 when the marriage issue was seen on them.

Joe Thur

There is no doubt that one "solution" to the no-married-clergy roadblock within Ruthenian catholicism in the U.S. has been for young men to opt to marry, become orthodox, then enter holy orders there. There have also been Byzantine deacons who joined the OCA, and orthodox clergy who have joined the Ukrainian Catholics, so I honestly don't see the marriage issue as necessarily crucial to the vocation. It must depend on the individual. It does appear that the greater the limits or requirements, the fewer the vocations, but after this initial impression the issue quickly dissolves into politics.

J Thur...
Name one...
Face it...Married priesthood brings as many obstacles to ordination as does celibacy. (unless you are living in the 19th century.)
JMVFTTP

So why not let men choose which obstacle they want? :p

I've been wanting to give my .02 on this issue, and now seems like a good time.

I am Orthodox, but I know and have dealt with a lot of Greek Catholic clergy. Most of these G.C. priests get a salary that many Orthodox priests would envy! The demographics of so many Greek Catholic and Orthodox parishes are the same; I can't accept that one is capable of supporting a married priest (both financially, mentally, etc.) and the other one is not.

From a more secular POV: if the leaders of HUGE mega-corporations and international companies or, let's say, the President of the USA, can do their jobs AND be married at the same time, why can't Father So-and-So at St. Whoever's Parish in Nowheresville handle being a priest and being married?

A good friend of mine was just ordained in January. He's young (mid-20s), was married in July, and is concurrently serving his first parish while still in seminary. Is it a struggle? Yes. Does he have to make sacrifices? I'm sure. Is he happy? Absolutely!

Geez, I just don't see what the big deal is! Maybe that is because I have been exposed to married priests my entire life.

Dave

Neither one is better than the other. It is not a question of the merits of "married priesthood vs. celibate priesthood". It is not to be restored because it will solve a crisis, or fill the seminary, or prove anything to anyone.

It is simply the fact that married priesthood is the tradition of the eastern Churches, and it should be the norm, because it is the tradition. It is not the better thing to do. It is the right thing to do, because it is the TRADITION.

Then get rid of both if they are so obstacle-ridden.

Answer me this: Is priesthood defined by marriage or celibacy?

And this one: Did Rome make a mistake of allowing former Protestant clergy, who are married, into their clerical ranks?

Joe