Now, heres the bottom line regarding Thursdays discussions: If youre pope, you dont call a meeting to discuss things of this nature if you arent open at least in principle to making some kind of change. John, the Ultra-Trad I-wont-read-your-posts-if-youre-a-lousy-Vatican-II-Lover-but-I-want-you-to-read-all-mine-plus-the-books-I-want-you-to-read Thunda from Down Unda Sometimes you hear about somebody being a former priest, and I dont see how thats possible. Even their own mothers in most cases refuse to report boyfriends, husbands, family members. And his hobby horse ride again! But if he is granted that dispensation, the answer is "yes.". I do thorough research on Catholic doctrines and teachings. How celibacy has not served the Church well should be obvious. Would it work? Pray without ceasing, folks. Since this is what the priest is requesting anyway, there is usually little fear that he will violate this restriction. I mean, I know to some celibate priests may be the most God-awful people in the world (I mean, even Fr. Besides this, I have remained faithful to the Church. In the midst of a debilitating physical illness, undiagnosed then, I became fearful of harming the faithful with a lack of patience and a temper that were overcoming me. We all know that as a rule, Catholic clergy are required to be celibate (c. 277.1). A laicized priest maybe having not functioned as a priest for years could licitly hear a dying persons confession and validly absolve him from all sin. (The technical term is dismissal from the clerical state.) The man still remains a priest in his very being, so that the sacred power given him at his ordination is never and can never be lost or given up or taken away. I would not be justified in taking a suspect in for questioning, nor would I be required to. We too should pray for those priests who have left the active ministry, that if possible, they will return to the vocation to which they were called and exercise the great gift of priesthood they have received. But the point remains why did he seek ordination, then? I left the Priesthood during a debilitating struggle with Obsessive Compulsive disorder. Similarly, canon 290 of the Code of Canon Law states bluntly that once a man validly receives sacred ordination, the sacrament never becomes invalid. I think it was St. Thomas Aquinas who wrote that God always calls enough men to the priesthood to give us the priests we need. Perhaps there is some bigger design behind those conditions that create fox holes, in order to replenish the faithful after times of certain wickedness. True, a married priest is not a panacea, but it makes him a more normal person better able to identify with the needs and aspirations of his parishioners. to be allowed to celebrate Mass once again, even if they cannot return Most of that is spent on the school (which is tuition free) and 10% goes to the diocese. Most of them are above average and a few are truly holy enough to assure me that Christ is still present to His Church in the ministerial priesthood. 9. For more on the matter of reducing priests to the lay state, see this 1972 Declaration from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. 1394 ). If a man is a widower, he too may be ordained, provided that he has not remarried, and he may not marry after his ordination. How can I refuse to believe something that was not even brought up to me in the first place prior to her posting that bit of info? Celibacy was part of the rules under which they were ordained, and they left the priesthood because they didnt want to remain celibate. http://www.byzantines.net. http://www.east2west.org/Celibacy.htm. Doing so would only raise hopes for a change that you have no willingness to make, and thats always a Bad Thing (look at what happened with the commission Paul VI called on contraception). Please check the Archives firstits likely your question was already addressed. True, our Blessed Mother knew that Her Son was sacrificing His life for an abusive spouse, but that doesnt validate our abuse and our selfishness. Some of the others might have been married but there is a clear indication that they left everything, including their families, to follow Christ. Its not when we talk about how Christ can be truly present in the Eucharist though it still looks like bread and wine, nor when explaining how whats known as. A priest who is laicized ceases to be a priest and is no longer permitted to carry out priestly functions in the Catholic Church. Somehow here we have people wishing to make all of the exceptions the rule! In order to limit such situations, many bishops do not admit fathers of young children to the diaconate. snip The call to ministry, however, is not exclusive of marriage and so I think youre premature in judging that the wife or the marriage is being given second short shrift. permanently." We certainly have known plenty of them as well as other human religious who let their tempers fly now and then and due to their obedience on the whole we learned our faith much better than in the current of climate of luuuuv. A laicized priest is no longer referred to as "Father," or by any other honorary title given to clerics. He goes on to say: An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. First, lets review the situation: The pope called a meeting for Thursday (yesterday) of the heads of the Vatican dicasteries (departments). Jeannette, Of course, these are such tempting times with all kinds of stronger than ever influences upon the person. If, for example, a priest who had lost the clerical state were driving home and encountered a car accident, and found there a Catholic victim who at least appeared to be near death, that laicized priest would actually be required under canon law to hear his confession and grant him absolution. Some of the details of his stories are still in my mind especially of the power struggles between the pastor and the nuns. Further, you folks need to remember that the RC church has something that no other Christian denomination w/married clergy has: religious orders. Ego, ego, ego I hate to go off point in comboxes, but once in a while: I wasnt worried by tims post, though he might have meant it (originally) as nasty. Used stuff is cheap (especially electronics), and so is offbrand food. Laicized priests may, however, be able to marry. Often it is even grounds for annulment. Clerical Incardination: Priests for Life, Part I, an interesting and surprising set of figures was printed in a Vatican publication back in 2007. 110.4). All rights reserved. I suspect there is quite a range in the stipends paid to a priest, across the country and I dont see any reason to doubt your particular figures, but I dont see any reason to doubt Lisas, either. 3) I know there is great variance in the cost of living, too. But your average diocesan priest, especially those who have been ordained over 10 years, have a fully developed personal life that has nothing to do with their priesthood and, as time goes on, usually is valued more than the priesthood. Moreover, even if this priest had left the priesthood without proper permission and was in a state of mortal sin, he could still validly absolve the dying person of sin. I doubt that there will be droves of folks applying for the priesthood just because the celibacy requirement is lifted. While Benedict XVI has only been Pope for a comparatively short time, it is difficult to imagine that he will in the future take a radically different stance on this issue. The Catechism states that the sacrament of Holy Orders confers an indelible spiritual character on the man who receives it (CCC 1582). By having two or three churches share a pastor (part-time at each church) they can manage the situation somewhat. And the police force would no longer have the obligation to provide me a salary or health insurance. He wasnt totally in the marriage . Only if one wants to become a priest, brother, or religious sister does he or she have to live a celibate life. Priests find companions and escape from parish life even if its not a woman. If it can be done, I assume I will have to schedule a meeting with the current diocesan bishop, but I dont want to ask for an appointment if there is no point in it. They are all human, with human shortcomings. This means that practically speaking, while a priest can receive permission to leave the active priesthood, he ordinarily will not receive permission to marry. One of the biggest factors in determining this is, what led to the priests laicization in the first place? This can be as a punishment for some serious crime, or for some other grave reason, which can be voluntary. Plus, the religious brother you cited had a DRE. They have already proven themselves untrustworthy. I dont think Catholics would have any problem supporting a priest and his family. The principle that a married deacon cannot remarry if widowed is still the norm in the Roman rite. I remember one teacher of Latin lamenting that she was able to carry through her vocation because her sister stayed home to care for the parents. I understand the Churchs reasons for this, and accept them. But if I egregiously violate the rules of the road, I can have my license taken away, and my right to drive revoked. Careerism. Ideally, of course, the realization that it will be impossible to live and work as a priest for the rest of ones life should be reached when a man is still a seminarian, during the years of theological study and spiritual formation leading up to his ordination. Difference between NIV and TNIV version of the Bible. Practically speaking, this would mean that a priest no longer functioned outwardly as a priest. The Church does not owe him a living, or medical care, nor does it have any further legal responsibility for him. This situation you mentioned: It leaves the priest free to more fully commit his life to the service of the Lord and the laity. Do you really think with $1/week Catholics, the lack of funds that the Catholic Church is suffering these days, and all the other complications that have arisen in the Church, that we can actually support a decent salary for priests who do get married (his family, his children), should the Church even allow married priests, let alone, cover the rising costs to run and maintain all the parishes, all the churches within a diocese? We need to find a way to not only hand on the authentic Catholic Faith, but to hand on an authentic Catholic Culture to go with it. You did know that even before the Church scandal, there were many parishes closing down because of the lack of funds to keep them up and running, right?