if you want to be a priest do you have to give up your family and goods?can you have kids and be married?

Question

i know its silly this question but since i was a kid i wanted to be a nun but life changed and i became a mum of 4 and iam now married ,my mother went into a convent but did not stay there for long my daughter has a facination for crosses and bibles ,so its in the blood,i know women are now allowed to be priests but would a woman have to give up her marriege and kids to be a priest i think some priests are married does anyone know the answer..is it possible to follow teh path of prist hood while having kids and being married?serious answers only please.

Answer 1

We know that Jesus (God in the flesh) appointed all males for the 12 Apostles (bishops). 12 Apostles for the 12 tribes of Israel which the 12 Apostles are to judge when Jesus comes back on a cloud of glory to judge all the living and all who have gone before us. The following is from Catholic Answers:

"The reason that women are unfit for ordination is because they are not men. Sounds extremely politically incorrect, doesn't it? But the fact is that God created men to be men and women to be women. When he chose to incarnate, he didn't just choose to become a human being, he chose to become a man. Just as he chose to incarnate into a specific time, place, people, family, and woman (Mary), so he chose to become a specific human being, the man Christ Jesus. Thus, those human beings who serve as priests in the person of Christ (Latin, in persona Christi) are men and not women.

This shocking particularity of God is not limited to choosing men to become priests. To demonstrate this to proponents of women's ordination, you might turn their question around and ask them what is it about men that makes them unfit to bear children. Surely, you might state, a man is just as physically strong as a woman (if not more so) and psychologically and emotionally capable of the demands of motherhood. Surely he is not inferior to a woman, is he? Isn't it unfair that only women can have babies?

The reason this line of logic descends into ridiculousness is because women bearing babies is a natural fact of life, something easily seen and understood. To shake one's fist at the heavens and demand equal rights for men to bear babies is to rail against the natural order of creation. Once you and your debate partners are in agreement on that point, you can then establish the analogy that men being priests is a supernatural fact of life and to rail against it is to rail against the supernatural order of creation. Just because the supernatural order cannot be seen or as easily understood as the natural order -- although the laws of the natural order, such as gravity, are also sometimes invisible to the human senses -- does not mean that it does not exist." -Michelle Arnold
__________________
"The devil fears hearts on fire with love of God." --St. Catherine of Siena
http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=91410&highlight=Women+Priests

I also recommend that you read this Apostalic Letter by the late John Paul the Great:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_22051994_ordinatio-sacerdotalis_en.html

Answer 2

There are priest with wives and priest without wives. This was an issue with the Protest reformation. Catholic priest do not have wives, but there are even Catholic priest who were married with children before they became priest.

There are women priest as well. And yes they follow the priesthood and have a family life,

But what is your question really? Should women play a role in their Church? If that is your desire, find a church with equal opportunities in the clergy.

Answer 3

:It depends on your religion. If you are Catholic, which it sounds as if you are, then no.

I know you can be a nun once your spouse dies and your children are raised. But that would be years from now for you. For now ask your priest what you can do to help in the Parish or see if you can teach a Catechism class. I'm sure he could help you find a way to fulfill this calling you feel you have.

If you are not Catholic then many religions allow women and married ones at that to be Priests.

Answer 4

It depends on your religion and position in church. But if you say a priest in the Catholic church it is not right and proper and must obey the vow of celibacy, if you disobey the rule and have a amily then you have committed a sin not only to church but also to God.. A practice of celibacy started since Christianity starts but i wonder why some done wrongful acts of abusing women in the colonial times especially the friars and today some are marrying. Why so, does it mean homosexuality is also acceptable?

Answer 5

I guess why not? Get to fundamentals. What is a priest?
a) One who can practice the core principles of the religion or sprituality
b) One who can spread the philosophy and practices of sprituality
c) One who has complete control on his/her senses and is able to detach himself/herself from material possessions/desires
d) One who has accomplished higher level of knowledge, wisdom and consciousness though his/her self-efforts and committment to God and has taken conscious decision to devote his/her life for service toward God's causes.

With this, there is no reason why you can't have all your material possessions, family etc and be priest. However, why there had been tradition and recommendation for priest not to be involved with material engagements like marriage/sex, money etc is because of following:
a) It causes distraction and hence requires lot more effort to keep one focused
b) It is known to bring in impurity in terms of spritual committment which not only delays the advancement on the path toward God but also could lead to mistakes (owing to human nature) which could lead to corruption and degradation of position that a priest holds
c) Having family and other material properties put additional responsibility toward society which will divide priest's attention and hence causing him/her not to be able to effectively deliver the duties of a priest.

But as said again, there is not harm as such in being a priest with family etc as there had many who have done so using their self-control and determination.

Answer 6

Depends on your religion... Catholic have male only priests who are not married. Other religions allow ministers to be married with children- like methodist.

Answer 7

as long as the man was married and had the kids before bring a priest, then thats ok

Answer 8

Being a priest you can get married. But if it is a monk you cannot.

Answer 9

It depends on which branch of Christianity you're in. Call your local church and ask what their particular sect believes.

Answer 10

i believe that its unhealthy that priest and nuns cant be married