The Future of Catholicism by Coren Michael

Author:Coren, Michael [Coren, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780771023538
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Published: 2013-11-05T00:00:00+00:00

V

FEMALE ORDINATION AND MARRIED PRIESTS

AS SOON AS POPE BENEDICT announced his resignation in 2013, there were questions raised about the future of the priesthood and whether the future Church would suddenly ordain women or allow married men to become Catholic clergy. Actually, these are two entirely separate questions, albeit often originating from a similar source and spirit.

Then, within just a few days of Pope Francis being elected, a group of Roman Catholic MPS and members of the House of Lords in Britain wrote a letter asking the new Holy Father to consider permitting bishops in the United Kingdom to ordain married men as priests. The letter was not extreme, and also explained that celibacy should be retained for bishops – as in Eastern forms of Christianity – to show the “continuing high regard we have for those who are able to live a genuinely celibate life,” but it seemed disarmingly early for such a letter, and as a consequence entirely lacking in grace and decorum. It did, however, reflect the view of many Catholics, not only in Britain but in much of the Catholic world, especially in western Europe and North America.

“Your Holiness, We write to you as Catholic members of both Houses of the United Kingdom Parliament,” the collection of fairly prominent lay Catholics wrote. “First, we would like to warmly congratulate you on your election and assure you of our prayers and of our support as you work for the deep renewal of the Church. We would also like to place one specific request before you. Your two predecessors, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict, guided we are sure by the Holy Spirit, generously permitted the ordination of married Anglican clergy as Roman Catholic priests. These men and their families have proved to be a great blessing to our parishes. Based on that very positive experience we would request that, in the same spirit, you permit the ordination of married Catholic men to the priesthood in Great Britain. In recent years we have been saddened by the loss of far too many good priests. If the celibacy rule were relaxed, there would be many others who would seek ordination, bringing great gifts to the priesthood. We recognise that the Church is serious about the New Evangelisation and the need to renew the Christian faith in our secular societies. As such one of our priorities must be to ensure that parishes have priests to administer the sacraments, therefore we believe that allowing married priests is desirable and imperative.”1

They were far from the first public figures to ask such questions in recent years. In 2010, the newly appointed Bishop of Bruges in Belgium, Jozef De Kesel, questioned celibacy for priests; in 2009, Professor Jozef Baniak at Poznand University in Poland found that 54 per cent of Polish priests supported an end to mandatory celibacy. In 2008, Robert Zollitsch, the Archbishop of Freiburg, was elected the new president of the German Bishops’ Conference, and he had earlier called for a discussion of celibacy for priests, describing it as a “gift,” but not essential.

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