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A step in the right direction?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18528861/

Naw...they've beat that pastoral provision horse and the fact of its exceptional nature to death. The Latins will not change their mind. Check that - the Latin hierarchs will not.

Many years to the newly ordained priest, though!

Gordo

Did anyone catch the error of the report?
Says he was made a priest for the 2nd time, while what actually happened was that he was really ordained for the first time.
Stephanos I

He was ordained a priest in his last church, no? I think that qualifies him for a second ordination.

Well the bad part of the article was the after the first layperson suggested its about time for married priest it is immediatly followed by a second layperson its about time for women priests. Oh Vay! Why does the media constantly include the second with the first? Especially when the context here is married male priest.
I think many here underestimate the ability for the Latins to change. We have arguably changed too much in some areas. This will not change under Pope Benedict but maybe within the span of the next pope or two. I think a pope for example from Latin America where thier an extreme crisis of clergy to laity ratio would be more motivated and open minded on the issue than a pope from where Catholcism is dying a slow death.

Dear Friends,

I think they should make marriage for priests in the Latin Rite mandatory.

You'll see how many will start joining religious orders . . .



Alex

Media coverage of sports or politics or entertainment works hard to "get it right". I guess the stakes for Catholic coverage are not high enough to do anything more than "take a shot at it."

Nice double standard.

Mary

Our local Latin Church has one priest for 4000 families.

This Latin would become a priest in a heart beat if the rules were changed.

By the CNA:


So, there's another former Episcopal priest but belongs to the 2007 Ordination Class. This one appears to be unmarried.

I am curious as to how many Eastern Catholics are among the 475 ordinands for the U.S. this year.

The USCCB reports available at:

http://www.usccb.org/vocations/ordination/2007/class2007.shtml

Dear Dr Eric,

Just go online and get one of the "vagante" orders. Don't just stop at Mitred Archpriest either. Go "whole hog" and get consecrated a bishop!

Then ask to come back to the Catholic Church (the non-vagante variety) and they'll welcome you with open arms!

Alex

I agree with Tobit's post above.

Although I personally do not object to married men as priests in Roman Catholicism, and am happy to see married priests, like Anglican priests, converting and joining the ranks of Catholic priests, it seems that is not yet where the hierarchy wants the norm to be for Roman Catholic men.

My in-laws go to a church where the parish priest is a convert from the Anglican church. He has grandkids sitting in the front row. He definitely has a different dynamic with people, because he is a father and grandfather. Is it better as a norm? I dunno. I think it is better to have him serving as a priest in a Catholic Church. He's a great priest. The church gained an entire family when it gained the priest - his wife, who is a tireless volunteer and who heads many of the charitable efforts of the parish, his kids and their kids, who are also active in the parish.

What is troubling is that the media always has to bring the very unrelated issue of "priestesses" in. That's a whole 'nother controversy and ought not be brought up every single time the priesthood is mentioned. Married man does not equate to woman. But you see that one come up a lot in articles, because it gets folks to read and get stirred up one way or the other.

I attended the ordination of Father William Lowe.

It certainly was historic.

The most memorable moment for me was the following:

After Father William was vested following the laying on of hands by Cardinal Mahoney, he turned to his wife and gave her a kiss. The microphone that he was wearing around his ear picked up the sound of their kiss and broadcasted it throughout the church.

The people responded with chuckles and "ahs", and then burst into applause.

I don't think they necessarily want people to get stirred up. It's just that our country was founded with the words "all men are created equal." It was patently obvious that the signers of the Declaration did not mean ALL men, since we endured slavery for almost a century afterword, segregation even longer - not to mention how long it took for full citizenship rights finally to be granted to Native Americans! But for almost a century, Americans have come to accept that women are also created equal at least in terms of citizenship rights.

The press, and society as a whole, tends to think that every institution, including the Church, should conform to the same values. They see the ordination of married priests as a step in the right direction and thus are waiting for the next footfall, which they no doubt expect to be inevitable. What they fail to understand is that a married priesthood is really a step backward - all the way to Peter!

Here in east Tennessee, Diocese of Knoxville, we also have a married, former Episcopal priest who will be ordained this coming summer.

Here is a link to the article about his ordination to the Holy Diaconate last summer.
http://www.dioceseofknoxville.org/?news=1555&menu=1462&level=1

Dr. Alex,

Or, I could proceed with my plans to join the UGCC, wait the "probationary period," then try to go to the Sheptytsky Institute and get ordained for the Eparchy of Chicago.

God Bless You,

Dr. Eric

PS Now all I need is a rich person to leave me all his/her money so I can afford this scheme!