Is Pope Francis Going To Let Priests Get Married?

[dairygirl4u2c]

Pope Francis hinted this past weekend that he is working on a “solution” to priestly celibacy, a move that could signal a possible shift in opinions — if not religious law — around the Catholic church’s practice of barring clergy from marrying.

In an interview on Sunday with La Repubblica, an Italian Newspaper, Francis described the practice of priestly celibacy in unusually negative terms compared to his predecessors, framing it as a “problem” in need of fixing.

“There definitely is a problem but it is not a major one,” he said. “This needs time but there are solutions and I will find them.”

The comment has drawn attention for challenging the centuries-long church tradition of prohibiting priests from taking wives, although Pope Francis has voiced an arguably ambivalent view of priestly celibacy in the past. In May, he told a group of reporters that, “[celibacy] is a gift for the church, but since it is not a dogma, the door is always open.” In addition, Francis’ own secretary of state also remarked to a Venezuelan newspaper last year that, “Celibacy is not an institution but look, it is also true that you can discuss (it) because as you say this is not a dogma, a dogma of the church.”

But the question remains: does the pope really want to change the church’s policy on priestly celibacy, and if he does, is that even within his power?

At least one of those questions is easy to answer: yes, Francis can change the church’s policy. Priestly celibacy is only canon law, or a man-made rule, and not church dogma or doctrine. Priestly celibacy didn’t even exist in early Christianity, with several early popes (including Jesus’ disciple Simon Peter), bishops, and priests marrying and fathering children during the church’s first three centuries. The tradition of clerical continence doesn’t show up until the Council of Elvira around 305-306 CE, and wasn’t even formally codified into canon law until 1917.

This is partially because — from a theological perspective — the argument for priestly celibacy is based more on informed religious assumptions and preferences than hard Biblical evidence. Many defenders of celibacy point to the fact that Jesus didn’t have a wife, and since priests are meant to emulate the example of Christ, marriage is thought to be suspect. But Jesus also spoke Aramaic, was Middle Eastern, and wore primitive clothing — things hard to find among many of today’s Catholic priests — and one of his disciples, Peter, is listed as having a mother-in-law. And while the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 7:7-8 that “I wish that all were as I myself am,” meaning celibate, even he refrains from making it a hard-and-fast rule. He goes on to add the following caveat a few verses later: “But if they are not practicing self control, then they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.”

In fact, married Catholic priests already exist — lots of them, actually. Roman Catholics are already allowed to ordain married men to the diaconate, an ordained position below priest, so long as they don’t intend to become full-fledged priests. Moreover, while the Roman Catholic Church constitutes the vast majority of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, it is only one of 23 “rites,” or religious sub-groups, within the church. These rites are broken down into two categorical chunks, one “Western” (the Latin/Roman Catholic rite) and 22 “Eastern” (everyone else), all of whom answer to the pope but harbor their own theological and liturgical eccentricities. Of these, most Eastern Catholics ordain married men to the priesthood, and while many of these Catholics have been reluctant to do so in the West for fear of attracting unnecessary attention, last year the U.S. Maronite Catholic Church ordained its first married priest in America. What’s more, the Roman church recently expanded and streamlined the process allowing married (male) Lutheran and Anglican/Episcopalian priests to enter into the Catholic fold — with wives in tow.

As for whether or not Francis will actually follow through with finding “solutions” for priests who want to marry, that’s a little more difficult to discern, but it’s notable that his comments come in the wake of a noticeable uptick in support for married Catholic priests.

A global Univision poll released in February reported that the majority of Catholics now believe priests should be allowed to marry, a sentiment that is showing up in the church’s own worldwide survey as well. In May, a group of 26 women sent a letter to the pope begging him to endorse married priests so they can finally “start a relationship with a priest we are in love with.” Finally, in June, the Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation published a statement on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops website urging the church to change its position, saying that allowing for married priests would “assure the Orthodox Church that, in the event of the restoration of full communion between the two Churches, the traditions of the Orthodox Church would not be questioned.” This message from the Orthodox Church, which allows for married priests, is particularly important given that Francis is actively cultivating a relationship with Patriarch Bartholomew, the head of the Orthodox church, in an effort to move towards a full unification of the two religious traditions.

To be sure, Pope Francis hasn’t made his exact intentions around priestly celibacy clear, and nothing in the Catholic Church moves quickly — any institution as large and old as the Vatican is likely to take its time on things. But as the church draws closer to its Extraordinary Synod on the Family — a large gathering of key bishops where a variety of “family issues,” including preistly celibacy, are on the docket for discussion — this October, it’s worth watching to see if Francis’ increasingly vocal ambivalence about unmarried priests turns into a major, if possibly long overdue, shift in church law.

[cmaD2006]

You quoted a poll from Univision?!?!?!? (Sorry but I don't necesarily take Univision as seriously as say, a Gallop poll or a Frankin and Marshall poll).

[Amppax]

Nope! 

[chrysostom]

Is Pope Francis going to let married men in the Latin Church be ordained to the priesthood?  Probably not more frequently than the current exceptions allow for, for example when married Anglican ministers convert to Catholicism and receive Holy Orders.  But making this option more frequent is not out of the question.

Is Pope Francis going to let priests receive the sacrament of matrimony?  No way.  That's compatible with neither Orthodox nor Catholic tradition.

 

I think the way forward in ecumenical dialogue with the Orthodox is not to abandon our traditions but to hold fast to them and let the Orthodox hold fast to theirs.  There's as little reason to make the Latin Church "Orthodoxised" (is there an expression for this?) as there is to make the Orthodox Latinised.

Edited July 23, 2014 by chrysostom

[Luigi]

I don't see any benefit in speculating about this.

 

 

Let's just wait, and then we'll see.

[dairygirl4u2c]

i should have bolded the following... if he speculates about it, i see no reason others can speculate about it in general, or about him changing something specifically...

 

"Pope Francis has voiced an arguably ambivalent view of priestly celibacy in the past. In May, he told a group of reporters that, “[celibacy] is a gift for the church, but since it is not a dogma, the door is always open.” In addition, Francis’ own secretary of state also remarked to a Venezuelan newspaper last year that, “Celibacy is not an institution but look, it is also true that you can discuss (it) because as you say this is not a dogma, a dogma of the church.”"

[superblue]

i think a better question would be, since the option is there to allow priests to marry, would it change ones respect / views of the priesthood and or the church.

 

I think the arguments in any form that point to if priests could marry it would lessen pedophile scandals, is not only a joke but wrong,

 

more over if one wanted to favor why priests should be allowed to marry to some how show the importance of the sacrament of marriage and some how work that angle ( which it shouldn't really be considered an angle )

 

but to mock the source of the info really isn't fair to do any more, catholic sources of information are just as biased as the rest of the worlds news resources, the best one can do for information is wait an see and compare notes.

 

priests being allowed to marry or not is really the last thing I would really want the pope or the church as a whole to be worried about, I would hope the pope and the church would worry more about being more transparent in a lot of issues an the top of that issues would be ridding the church of all pedophile priests and a solid plan on how to handle any future potential crimes committed by clergy.

[blazeingstar]

What it sounded like to me is that he may allow married deacons (especially those who are done raising children) to become Priests, not simply allow priests to go find the first woman and produce children.

[CatherineM]

Maybe. If he does, no big deal. I've got some priests in my family tree.

[Credo in Deum]

I personally do not see Pope Francis breaking away from the traditions of the Church.  I hardly believe one can fault celibacy for the issues of the Church, especially when it comes to pedophiles.  Thinking that throwing women at men will solve a pedophile problem is ridiculous.  Furthermore I do not see him allowing those who are already ordained to get married since neither side, East or West, practices this.

 

 

[Credo in Deum]

:pm:

 

Edited July 24, 2014 by Credo in Deum

[KnightofChrist]

I personally do not see Pope Francis breaking away from the traditions of the Church.  I hardly believe one can fault celibacy for the issues of the Church, especially when it comes to pedophiles.  Thinking that throwing women at men will solve a pedophile problem is ridiculous.  Furthermore I do not see him allowing those who are already ordained to get married since neither side, East or West, practices this.

 

Sad fact: There are many teachers in schools who commit the same crimes, and many of them have been married, and they could have all married. Allowing married priest under the pretense that will solve the problem, will only serve to cause greater harm when it does not solve the problem. 

 

I don't know why the media does not report on it like they do for priest abuse, even though far more teachers and school officials have abused more children. I guess they don't want to upset teacher unions? 

 

Fun Fact: Eastern Bishops cannot be married. And Eastern Catholic/Orthodox priests must first be married before become priests. At least that is what I've been told by Eastern Catholics that get displeased when Westerners say "oh but in the East a priest can marry!" and just leave it at that.

Edited July 24, 2014 by KnightofChrist

[CatherineM]

The Catholic Church has deeper pockets and one entity to focus rage on. Separate school systems, youth organizations, and non denominational churches don't have that.

What I think is most ironic is that the Boy Scout's ban on homosexuals came about because of their abuse by counselor's crisis. Now they are being attacked because of a ban they put in place at the urging of abuse survivors.

[NIKA]

What you were told by your friend knightofchrist is correct, in the case of the Ukrainiain church.  Priests, in the Eastern Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church must tie the knot before ordination.

Edited July 30, 2014 by NIKA

[LouisvilleFan]

i should have bolded the following... if he speculates about it, i see no reason others can speculate about it in general, or about him changing something specifically...

 

"Pope Francis has voiced an arguably ambivalent view of priestly celibacy in the past. In May, he told a group of reporters that, “[celibacy] is a gift for the church, but since it is not a dogma, the door is always open.” In addition, Francis’ own secretary of state also remarked to a Venezuelan newspaper last year that, “Celibacy is not an institution but look, it is also true that you can discuss (it) because as you say this is not a dogma, a dogma of the church.”"

 

What Pope Francis is talking about there is the Latin Rite discipline where only unmarried men are eligible for ordination as priests (without special permission). It's basically extending the same practice we have for deacons to the priesthood. Married men can be ordained as deacons, but they cannot marry again after their ordination. Same thing with Orthodox and Eastern Catholic priests.

 

There is no serious discussion about allowing deacons or priests to get married. There is a very strong tradition going back practically to the Apostles that once they are ordained, men give up the right to seek marriage unless they are already married. The whole purpose of this is for the ordained ministry to reflect the kingdom of heaven, where the marriage of Church and Christ will be fulfilled.