www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Switching Rites to be Ordained

The title for this post comes from a thread started over at the Catholic Answers forum. I thought it was an interesting topic so I wanted to bring it up here to a more Eastern driven audience. All of us here have probably heard about the scheme to transfer from Roman to Byzantine in order to become a married Priest. While this may be theoretically possible, does anyone here actually know of anyone who has done this? Thanks!!

Christ is in our midst!!

There are many threads here that have treated this subject in the past and you might browse for some of them to get a feel for the subject.

First of all, you won't "swith rites," because the Catholic Church recognizes the Eastern Churches in communion as sui juris Churches--fully having their own theology, spirituality, and liturgical traditions that are not merely Latin with a strange look.

Second, in the United States Rome has put the brakes on the ordination of married men and though there are some and it does happen, there is usually a very dim view of men who think that a back-door way to ordination exists by doing what you suggest.

As a Latin myself, I have to ask if you're seeking ordination for your own purposes rather than as a service to the Church and the People of God. If so, you'll find that the life of a married priest is not utopia. It comes with its own set of challenges, as some of our married clergy on this board will tell you.

Somewhere there is an essay about the Eastern view of marriage and ordination, but I can't put my finger on it at this time.

Bob

I don't know if the frequent use of "you" in your post was meant for me specifically or as a replacement for one. I am a Ukrainian Catholic; my puspose in asking was merely because the post on Catholic Answers piqued my curiousity. Thanks for the reply!!

While I don't know of anyone who has attained sacerdotal ordination in this manner, I do want to say that IMO one has to petition for transfer from one sui juris Catholic Church to another for purer motives than such a disingenuous plot. The canonical transfer would probably not be granted if the hierarchs involved were aware of the petitioner's actual intentions.
Nor should it be - once again, IMO.

What "scheme" are you referring to? First of all a change of particular Churches is done because one embraces a certain spiritual and liturgical life and most definitely not to dodge canon law. Eastern bishops are in general wary of "rite hoppers".

My ordaining bishop would not even consider anyone for orders unless they had been active in a parish a minimum of five years and had multiple recommendations, psychological evaluation, etc. which is a completely wise and reasonable position.

So with the time needed to do the canonical change of particular Churches, five years active in a parish, plus formation, discernment, etc. one is easily looking at a minimum of a decade and likely more. If someone is looking for a shortcut to get the bishop's hands on his head, this is not it.

Well, I do know of one Latin rite priest who started out as a married Orthodox priest. It must have been a strange journey as his wife was still living and did not join the Catholic Church.

An Orthodox priest in good standing who has already received the chierotonia of priesthood and wishes to become Catholic is a very different situation than a Latin who wants to "change rites" simply to be ordained as a married man.

There was the unique case of +Fr. Ed Doherty of blessed memory, husband to Catherine Doherty - whose canonization is being evaluated.

Yes, very unique. He was almost 80 when he was ordained, had been worshipping in Greek Catholic parishes on and off since the late 1940s with Catherine, and had the personal intervention of both Archbishop +Joseph and Patriarch +Maximos of blessed memory to make it happen. So even in his case it is not as if he came from the Latins hoping to quickly be ordained as a married Greek Catholic priest.

I've known people who switched Churches at the time of ordination. But as Diak has mentioned, one should have participated in the life of the Eastern Church for years. The people I know have been very active members of the Eastern Churches while remaining canonically Latin. And like I said over at CAF, nobody can just show up at the door and ask to be ordained.

In those cases it is catching up with the paperwork to please the canonists rather than "switching rites" simply to be ordained, with the petitioner having been very active in his Eastern parish for years and being spiritually, liturgically and functionally Eastern.