Daily Breakfast 694 – Seeking Unity
Las Vegas and Star Trek Experience; Windows 7 installation; Catholic Pilot promo; Early Edition; Dark Chocolate-covered Edamame; a balanced life; Catholic life in Holland; joys of running; Anglicans joining the Catholic Church.
Links:
- Catholic Pilot Podcast
- Pope Benedict XVI Approves Structure for Admitting Anglican Groups to the Catholic Church
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It is interesting that there are no comments on this episode, or at least not on the topic of the Anglican communion topic.
I have mixed feelings about this because although I want to see more unity among Christians, I have a problem with the fact that if you are an Anglican priest with a family, you can, for all intents and purposes, become a Roman Catholic priest. But, if you are a Roman Catholic priest you cannot marry or have a family. If you do leave and have a family, you are banned from the sacraments.
So, we’ve lost a lot of good men only because they wanted to marry. Celibacy is good and should remain a tradition, but if God calls an Anglican man to the Catholic priesthood, why can’t He call and Catholic priest to the sacrament of matrimony?
This is not unique to the new Anglican situation, it’s certainly not new in the Roman Catholic Church that former protestant ministers, who covert to the Catholic Church and want to continue their vocation as a shepherd in their new church get a dispensation from (I believe the Pope) so they can be ordained a Catholic priest while being married.
Celibacy is a discipline, not a sacrament. In the Eastern Orthodox Rite it’s perfectly possible for priests and deacons to be married, although bishops are always unmarried, celibate men. So even within the Catholic Church’s history there were times that priests were married.
See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerical_celibacy.
Oh, but Inge, it is unique in a sense. John-Paul-II is the one who originally opened the door for Anglican priests to not only enter the R.C. Church, but to also become practicing Roman Catholic priests, even though they were married.
Of course celibacy is a discipline. That isn’t what I am saying. You are correct in saying that they must receive a “dispensation” from the Pope, but you are incorrect in assuming that “…former protestant ministers, who covert to the Catholic Church and want to continue their vocation as a shepherd in their new church”. This is ONLY for Anglican priests who still have to be ordained since we do not recognize their ordination as valid.
Finally, my whole point is not to question all of those things, but to question the fact that some men can be called to Holy Orders, but not have the “gift” of celibacy. It is not only a matter of “fairness”, but a matter of justice that a man who is ordained as a Catholic Priest, who takes leave and marries is banned from ministry, but a man who is an Anglican Priest, who is married, is welcomed into the Roman Church, and is allowed (after much scrutiny)to practice as a Roman Catholic Priest while remaining married.
Many of you are too young to remember, but after Vatican-II there were many priests who dragged their feet about making changes to the liturgy etc. The priest in our neighboring parish was one of them. Our pastor made the changes, albeit difficult, and he received a great deal of scorn and complaints from parishioners who resisted. My pastor died, I feel in part, a broken man because he was obedient to the bishop. There have been many great priests who have left active ministry only because of celibacy. As I already said, there is nothing wrong with celibacy – it is a gift, but one can certianly receive the call priesthood and not the gift of celibacy.
@Michael
I believe that priests in the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches can also be married. So I don’t know if the recent Anglican ruling is “unique”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Catholic_Churches#Clerical_celibacy
Thanks Chris, but the Eastern Rite churches are already “aligned” with Rome. The Anglicans are not. That is what makes it “unique”.
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0246.html
What’s so difficult? The Church recognizes that it’s totally possible to have a vocation to the priesthood in the Catholic Church before being a Catholic. God is calling people to the priesthood. If during that discernment Anglicans marry, become an Anglican priest and then continue their calling by converting eventually, they’re just continue to answer God’s call.
Can the Church than even deny people to answer to God’s call, because those Anglicans didn’t have the clear guidance young Catholic men who discern a vocation have?
Anglicans are Protestants, is really not unique that Protestant ministers who convert to Catholicism become Catholic priest and get a dispensation because they are married. This practice predates John Paul II. Anglicans are so related to Catholics that they are special in that regard, most continental Protestants don’t feel Anglicans are proper Protestants.
Therefore it’s only natural that the Vatican came up with this.
You make it sound so simple… You need to quit relying on Wikipedia. I’m sorry I ever brought the subject up. You just don’t get it.
Have a good day…