Marriage for Catholic priests: Long awaited break from church tradition?

[Mirror]

The debate has been on for some time. It is not a new one. However, the debate on whether or not Catholic priests should be allowed to marry has again come to the fore. And as usual, it is with a lot of passion with could not be stripped of sentiment and at the same clear reasoning and facts. What could have thrown up this debate now? On Wednesday 11 September, 2013, NBC News reported that the Vatican's secretary of state suggested that the Catholic Church could be open to allowing priests to get married.

The Vatican's secretary of state Archbishop Pietro Parolin in a response to a question during an interview with a Venezuelan newspaper had asserted that clerical celibacy is not Church dogma, signalling that the tradition should be debated. "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," he said, as quoted by NBC. Parolin is viewed as the second most powerful figure at the Vatican behind Pope Francis. He, however, acknowledged that clerical celibacy has a longstanding tradition in the Church.

"The efforts that the church made to keep ecclesiastical celibacy, to impose ecclesiastical celibacy, have to be taken into consideration. One cannot say simply that this belongs in the past," he added. Thus began yet another debate over the marital status of the clergy in the world's first and largest church.

While some are out rightly against such proposition and even its mere contemplation, some faithful and even clerics are not faxed. Their decision is that of the church. For them, they are ready to swim with the tide. Whatever is the Church's decision in its wisdom is totally accepted to them. However, some revolutionaries are calling for a total scrapping of the celibacy institution.

Members of this school are quick to point out that since about 20 per cent of the total priests in the Catholic Church globally are married, why then should it not be made optional for all of them? Investigations by Saturday Starter revealed that many catholic priests are actually married. This, however, is not a secret. It is a known fact to many faithful at this side of the world.

"Most married Catholic priests are part of the Eastern Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern Rite, who can be found in places like the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, the Ukraine, and other nations along the border between Western and Eastern Christianity. These churches are under the jurisdiction of the Vatican and they recognise the authority of the Pope; however, their practices and traditions are much closer to those of the Eastern Orthodox Churches. One of those traditions is allowing priests to marry." Catholic Answer Magazine writes.

"Some estimates place the number of married priests at around 20 per cent of all Catholic priests in the world. This would mean that 20 per cent of all Catholic priests are officially and legally married, even though celibacy continues to be a requirement.

But marriage is not limited to priests who are part of the Eastern Catholic Churches — we can also find about 100 Catholic priests in America who are married and who are part of the Western Catholicism that comes to mind when most think of Catholicism," it added. Why are they married?

They got married while serving as priests in other Christian denominations, usually the Anglican or Lutheran churches. If such a priest converts to Catholicism, he can apply to a local bishop who then submits a special application to the Pope, with decisions being made on a case-by-case basis. If accepted, he is certainly not expected to get divorced or otherwise separate from his spouse, so his wife comes right along as well.

This exception to the celibacy rule was created on 22 July, 1980. This, however, is not applicable to a current Catholic priest. If he wants to get married, he must choose between marriage and the priesthood. The Catholic Church, lately, has been inundated with complaints of inappropriate relationship between its priests and members of the congregation both male and female.

Source: Marriage for Catholic priests: Long awaited break from church tradition?

[Folami David]

I don't think that would happen at all cos by then it would've lost its meaning. We can't really conclude though, anything can happen!