Holy crap: Allow Catholic priests to marry, urges Cardinal Keith O'Brien

[cali]

The Scottish Catholic leader, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, has said he would be happy for priests to be able to marry. Many priests struggle to cope with celibacy and should be able to marry and have a family, he added, in advance of a trip to Rome where he will help elect the next pope.

O'Brien told the BBC: "I'd be very happy if others had the opportunity of considering whether or not they could or should be married. It's a free world and I realise many priests have found it very difficult to cope with celibacy as they lived out their priesthood, and felt the need of a companion, of a woman, to whom they could get married and raise a family."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/22/alllow-catholic-priests-marry-cardinal

[Volaris]

1. 'bout fuckin' time, somebody other than the Catholic Lay said it publicly...

[Katashi_itto]

30. Likely to late, I doubt the Church will change.

[CanonRay]

2. Bet his odds on making Pope just went down

[joeybee12]

11. To about zero...nt

[MineralMan]

3. No white smoke for him, I'm betting.

[timdog44]

20. When I first saw that

I thought I saw blue smoke.

[Drunken Irishman]

4. Make him Pope!

[Tanelorn]

28. Obviously with this quote he is not interested in the top job

[onehandle]

5. Let there be married priests and the Church would thrive.

As it is, there are too few priests to effectively serve, and it's getting worse every year.

[SharonAnn]

6. Let there be women priests (and deacons, and bishops, and cardinals). It would thrive even more.

[randome]

8. It's a slippery slope!

What's next? Dog priests? Hamster priests? OTOH, I guess that wouldn't make much difference, would it?

[Skittles]

15. STOP IT RANDOME

Last edited Fri Feb 22, 2013, 05:35 PM - Edit history (1)

[Bucky]

26. !!! Man on dog confessionals!!

[onehandle]

9. I'm in favor of that, however who knows how many people would leave the church.

Some would over married priests. But women priests?

They would lose their minds.

[skepticscott]

19. Well, it might not be quite a matter of "leaving" at that point

There would almost certainly be a schism in the RCC over women priests. Those who opposed it would "stay" in the "real" church, and would consider the group allowing the ordination of women to no longer be a part.

[randome]

7. Sure but do we want it to thrive?

[Ikonoklast]

13. Rome is looking to Africa to fill that need.

Their growth market in Africa will soon be exporting parish priests, and those will be some of the most virulenty conservative Catholics yet seen.

[kenny blankenship]

10. Put a ring on it, Padre!

as long as the other fellow is of the age of consent, that is.

[hunter]

12. I know some priests who would make sweet couples...

... and some women who would be good priests.

Mix-and-match genders and orientations would improve the priesthood immensely.

(That's what God is telling this heretic...)

[RebelOne]

14. Why not?

Episcopalian priests were always allowed to marry, and the Episcopalian church is just one step down from the Catholic church. I used to be an Episcopalian many, many years ago, and the minister at my church was married. I am now a non-practicing Episcopalian.

[blueamy66]

16. We have a married Catholic priest, with children, here in the PHX diocese.

His name is Fr. Doug Lorig. He was an Episcopalian priest (raised Methodist, I think) and converted to Catholicism in 1979. He was a Deacon at my HS and was ordained when I graduated in 1984.

He is a Pastor of a parish in Scottsdale and has, I believe, 4 children.

There are a few "old school" Catholics here that I know personally who are not happy that he was allowed to convert and be ordained.

He is a very smart and caring man. He has written a short book as well.

I'm all for allowing Catholic priests to marry and have children.

[calimary]

21. I'm all for allowing Catholic priests to marry and have children, also!

I wish my church was forward-thinking enough and open-minded enough to consider the reasonable ways that would solve a lot of problems. Priestly celibacy as optional, not mandatory. Married priests. Women priests. Perhaps with all pathways to sex NOT shut off, we wouldn't have quite so much of a pedophilia problem. People need safe outlets. Look what can - and does - happen when stuff stays bottled up.

[Bucky]

27. It's a longstanding practice. I think it goes back to the 70s.

It's also, as I understand, an option for Greek Orthodox priests, too.

But not Lutherans or Coptics. Despite me knowing the theological and historical bases for this discrimination, it still seems like they're just throwing dice to see who they'll let in and who they won't.

[jsr]

17. Let them have sex like normal people and marry whoever they want.

[LuckyTheDog]

18. It is the only hope for the long-term survival of the church (nt)

[knitter4democracy]

22. Our priests in the Orthodox Church can marry.

The first church council agreed on this, and priests were able to be married until the Middle Ages in the West. It had nothing to do with the faith but instead primogeniture laws. If they'd just go back to their roots, the RCC priests could be married, too.

[spin]

23. The early Catholic Church did allow priests to be married. ...

Sunday, April 28, 2002 - 19:48
When Did the Catholic Church Decide Priests Should Be Celibate?
Helen L. Owen

***snip***

The Church was a thousand years old before it definitively took a stand in favor of celibacy in the twelfth century at the Second Lateran Council held in 1139, when a rule was approved forbidding priests to marry. In 1563, the Council of Trent reaffirmed the tradition of celibacy.
http://hnn.us/articles/696.html

[Bucky]

25. Geeze, that recently?

I would've put it in the 500s or so. I'm a little flabbergasted.

[Bucky]

24. Good for him! St Peter was married. Episcopal priests do okay with spouses.

But let's clear something up: allowing priests to marry won't impact the child molestation problem. Except in the rare case where fear of one's wife finding out prevents the crime, people who are pedephiles are not really deterred by marriage and most aren't really capable of getting into a serious relationship enough to get hitched in the first place.

What returning to the old standard of married priests will do is open up the profession to a lot more healthy-minded men. You could weed out the pevs. You might even have a few more colleagues willing to whistleblow on the pedophiles among the clergy. But the real benefit is in opening up the talent pool to guys who want to serve God as well as enjoy the full fruits of one's testicles.

Now, let's talk about wimmin priests and we're having a serious discussion.

[rhiannon55]

29. Unmarried priests leave no heirs

"Why aren’t Catholic priests allowed to marry? This has nothing to do with what’s written in the Bible or with any benefits of celibacy. This rule was invented by the Church to prevent their priests from producing heirs. When the priests died, their property would go back to the Church, thereby enriching the rich even more. Apparently God needed more cash. It was a very effective policy, as the Church is now among the richest and most powerful organizations on earth. It’s hard to fail when you have a loyal force of lifetime indentured servants who work cheaply and then yield their life savings to you when they die.

Lay religious people (i.e. non-clergy), on the other hand, are encouraged to have lots of babies because that means more people are born into the religion, which means more money and a bigger power base. Condoms are a big no-no; they’re bad for business. Marriage is a big yes; it means more brainwashed babies will be made."

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2008/05/10-reasons-you-should-never-have-a-religion/

[Katashi_itto]

31. Arnold Schwarzenegger is the "LAST POPE"

He was a humble Cardinal... they him made Pope...

They elected him to clean up the Vatican

...he gave them a Baptism of Blood....!

In THEATERS APRIL 1st!

IN 3D!!!

[reformist2]

32. I think requiring celibacy used to be good, but it's too big a hurdle nowadays.