The Lead

Will having more married Roman Catholic priests change the rules on celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church? The New York Times reports that there are currently 80 married priests in the US and more to come as the Ordinariate welcomes married men who are priests into the clergy ranks.

There were always some married priests in Roman Catholicism, too, until the First Lateran Council, in 1123, banned the practice. And there have been married Roman Catholic priests again since 1980, when the church said that Protestant clergymen who became Catholic priests could stay married to their wives.

There are about 80 such Catholic priests in America, says the Rev. D. Paul Sullins, a sociologist at Catholic University in Washington. Once an Episcopal priest himself, now a married Catholic priest, Father Sullins has interviewed over 70 married priests, and many of their wives, for a book he is writing. A vast majority are former Episcopalians, he says, though some came from other Protestant denominations.

The small cohort of married priests raises several questions. First, are they doing as good a job as other priests? If the church has decided that celibacy confers certain gifts on priests, does it follow that married priests are worse at serving their congregations? Second, wouldn’t celibate priests be a little resentful of colleagues who get to serve the church and have sex too? And third, if the married priests are doing a good job and not provoking envy, why keep the celibacy rule for priests in general?

To answer the first question, it is important to understand the rationale for the celibacy rule. (“Celibacy” refers to a life without marriage; “continence” is the term for living without sexual activity. In principle, celibate priests are also continent.) The church has never taught that celibacy is necessary to the priesthood. Rather, the tradition holds that that a priest performing the sacraments represents Jesus Christ, who was single. This idea of the priest in persona Christi, in the person of Christ, is also a prime rationale for why women cannot be Catholic priests.

Will married priests be less accessible than celibate priests?

...there is the practical belief that “if a man’s not married, he’s able to devote himself more fully and exclusively to his parish.” But he has found that married priests are usually aided, not hindered, by their wives, who are very committed to the parish. ... if you call a married priest in the middle of the night, and he is disinclined to go out, he will get an elbow from his life partner, saying, ‘Hey, you committed yourself to this work.’

Are celibate priests envious? Read more here.

Comments (6)

Rather, the tradition holds that that a priest performing the sacraments represents Jesus Christ, who was single. This idea of the priest in persona Christi, in the person of Christ, is also a prime rationale for why women cannot be Catholic priests.

So. Because Jesus was a single man, neither a married man nor a woman should perform the sacraments. Balderdash!

Jesus was a Jewish single man, ergo only Jewish single men should perform the sacraments.

I suppose the priests who wanted to marry are amongst the 25,000 who have already left the RC priesthood, so perhaps there is little resentment.

June Butler

Posted by GrandmèreMimi | January 7, 2012 9:19 PM

My first thought is: "How do we know that Jesus was single?" Really, how do we KNOW?

Second to that is the fact that Roman Catholic theologians along with Pope Paul VI decided years ago that there was no theological justification for clerical celibacy other than monastic vows. It's tradition not Tradition.

Posted by Peter Pearson | January 8, 2012 12:56 AM

About 15 years ago at a workshop, I got into a conversation with a priest of (of all things!) a "continuing Anglican" church. He'd been a Roman priest, but had left to marry. I guess he heard of another continuing Anglican priest being received (as an RC priest), and called his former RC bishop asking if he could "come back". Said the priest: "he hung up on me!"

;-)

JC Fisher

Posted by tgflux | January 8, 2012 1:35 AM

And this is a concern to Episcopalians how?

Don't we have enough to deal with in our own shop without weighing in on that which legitimately is another's business. Let Roman Catholics work out their own issues and we can work out ours. If they ask for our help on the matter, then by all means we can offer our counsel and advise but they will sort it out in due.

Thanks for commenting Richkahuna -- please sign you name when you comment in the future
~ed.

Posted by Richkahuna | January 8, 2012 2:47 AM

In a word, the answer is "no". Rome is not admitting married priests, rather it is taking on priests whose marital situation is an inconvenience.In doing so, it is making a negative judgement about the issue of clerical marriage.
These guys will not find their way into mainstream R.C. Parish life. If their wife dies, then they must remain celibate. Like all patriarchal institutions, Rome is obsessed with controlling women's sexuality. Therefore, the norm of clerical celibacy will remain.

Posted by Rod Gillis | January 8, 2012 10:39 PM

If the rationale is that priests must be outwardly like Jesus, then they need to limit the priesthood to Palestinian Jews. Enough with all these Europeans.

Posted by Weiwen Ng | January 9, 2012 4:53 PM

Add your comments

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)

Reminder: At Episcopal Café, we hope to establish an ethic of transparency by requiring all contributors and commentators to make submissions under their real names. For more details see our Feedback Policy.

Name:

Email Address:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

CATEGORIES

Organizations