Should catholic priests be allowed to marry?

Answer 1

I think they should be allowed to marry. Otherwise they will be molesting young ladies and girls coming to the Church, as is being done at many places now.-

Answer 2

Yes, they should have the choice. It has nothing to do with pedophilia since some pedophiles molest and rape their own children.

The Church removed the possibility of marriage for priest during the 4th Century when it found that priests were leaving Church treasures and other valuables to their families rather than leaving it with the Church. By banning marriage, priests could still have mistresses and children with them, but they were not legitimate so they couldn't receive any inheritance. It has nothing to do with the bible. (Yes, we do see the bible as the inspired word of God, too.) The celibacy rule did not come from Jesus, as I've pointed out. Jesus was brought into the situation to legitimize the ruling. Obviously this is not an issue any longer.

Paul preached about remaining celibate because he, as did many other early Christians, believed that Jesus would return in his second coming at any moment. That didn't happen. The Church cannot deny the humanity of these men nor can it elevate them to some sort of "holier-ness" because they are priests and do not have sex.

Further, there are Catholic priests throughout the world who ARE married. There are about 15 of them. Most of them were Anglican or Episcopalian priests who were married and had families who converted to Catholicism, mostly after those two churches allowed for women to be ordained.

How the Roman Catholic Church can allow these men to remain married while not allowing their own to marry seems wrong.

Answer 3

I've heard a few interesting "arguments" for why priests should not have a wife and kids. They basically boil down to divided attention and the temptation to put one's family before one's ministry... that doesn't seem to be a big issue for other Christian denominations, though. I will say that being a parish priest takes A LOT of dedication... don't know if it means to the exclusion of a family or not...

Since that change isn't coming any time soon, I'd like to see the establishment of an ORDER of priests who are allowed to marry. It's the next step after permanent deaconate, and it doesn't threaten whatever-it-is that people get all worried about.

Answer 4

Some men join the Catholic priesthood to try and control their non socially acceptable urges. Marriage wouldn't help any better. They need therapy and maybe drugs but first they have to admit that they have a problem. A married pederast is still a pederast.
To be a priest you need to have a positive calling not merely a desire to suppress non socially acceptable urges.
For a true catholic priest marriage would dilute his attention. For a wife, having a husband who loves another more than you (even if it's God) is a very bad situation and of course Catholics don't allow divorce unless you're a mediaeval king.

Answer 5

Yes!

1. The first, so-called, Pope, Simon Peter, was obviously married, at least at one time (Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law).

2. In past history, some countries (I think Switzerland) provided concubines for the priests, so the priests would leave their wives alone!

3. Today, if the priesthood was opened up to married priests, more *true* men of God would not have to leave the priesthood to marry and would be able to stay and enrich the Church with not only their knowledge and faith, but by the example of how they led their married lives with their wives and children.

4. Paedophiles and homosexuals would no longer find the priesthood a safe and easy refuge from normal life among their fellow, non-deviant, ministers of the Word of God.

Contrary to some innuendos about the sexual orientation of Saul of Tarsus, who became Paul, there is at least *some* evidence that when he embraced Christianity, his wife simply refused to convert, and he would neither compel her to do so, nor seek illicit sexual gratification elsewhere. Some have even suggested that his unbelieving spouse might have been his "thorn in the flesh"!

Answer 6

Priests, religious brothers and religious sisters (nuns) as part of their vocation choose not to marry following:
+ The practice recommended in the Bible
+ The example of Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, and the Apostle Paul.

+++ Scripture +++

+ In Matthew 19:12, Jesus says, "Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it."

+ In Matthew 19:29, Jesus says, "And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life."

+ Matthew 22:30 - Jesus explains, "At the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels in heaven."

+ In 1 Corinthians 7:1, Paul writes, "It is a good thing for a man not to touch a woman."

+ Then in 1 Corinthians 7:7, Paul says, "Indeed, I wish everyone to be as I am."

+ In 1 Corinthians 7:27, Paul writes, "Are you free of a wife? Then do not look for a wife."

+ In 1 Corinthians 7:32-33, Paul teaches, "I should like you to be free of anxieties. An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife." And in verse 38, "So then, the one who marries his virgin does well; the one who does not marry her will do better."

Paul recommends celibacy for full time ministers in the Church so that they are able to focus entirely upon God and building up His kingdom. He “who refrains from marriage will do better.”

See also 1 Timothy 5:9-12, 2 Timothy 2:3-4, Revevation 14:4, Isaiah 56:3-7, and Jeremiah 16:1-4.

+++ Scriptural Examples +++

Biblical role models of a celibate clergy came from John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Apostle Paul.

John the Baptist and Jesus are both believed to have been celibate for their entire lives. Some scholars believe that the example of the Essenes influenced either or both Jesus and John the Baptist in their celibacy.

WWJD? What would Jesus do? Jesus did not marry.

The Apostle Paul is explicit about his celibacy (see 1 Cor. 7). There is also evidence in the gospel of Matthew for the practice of celibacy among at least some early Christians, in the famous passage about becoming “eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 19:12).

The concept took many twists and turns over the years and will probably take a few more before Christ returns in glory.

A priest is "married" to the Church. Some people think that a priest who takes his duties seriously cannot take proper care of a wife and family. "A man cannot serve two masters."

With love in Christ.

Answer 7

Yes. there is nothing in teachings of Prophets that would forbid men from marrying. Actually if you look at Bible, Torah, Koran - most of the prophets of God were married, why then a priest cannot?

A lot of preachers of different religions marry (among Christians - orthodox, evangelist, protestants etc), and that is not a problem for them to carry out religious duties.

Some rules in Catholic religion are just invented by man - and created with the hand of man, Celibacy is one of them.

Answer 8

Some Catholic priests can marry. I know in the Byzantine Rite they can. But they have to get married before they become priests, not after. I think there would be more preists then, so that would be pretty great if they could get married.

Answer 9

It may come to be some day that all priests will be allowed to marry, however, I personally hope it doesn't come to that. Catholic priests do not marry because, while Christ does indeed approve of marriage for the Christian clergy, He much prefers that they do not marry. He made this quite clear when He praised the Apostles for giving up ``all'' to follow Him, saying, ``And every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting.'' (Matt. 19:27-29). Also, Jesus explains why some do not marry, stating "some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingsom of heaven." The Apostle Paul explained why the unmarried state is preferable to the married state for the Christian clergy: ``He that is without a wife, is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife: and he is divided.'' (1 Cor. 7:32-33). In other words, matrimony is good-- Christ made it one of the holy sacraments of His Church--but it is not conducive to that complete dedication which is incumbent upon those who submit themselves to another of Christ's holy sacraments--that of Holy Orders. Even so, the unmarried state of the Catholic priesthood is not an inflexible law--under certain conditions a priest may be dispensed from this law.

God bless,
Stanbo

Answer 10

Well to clarify with your first poster. A Catholic priest is not forced to be celibate. You must renounce sex, etc. If you don't like it then be a deacon or try to be the pope. Any Catholic male can be the pope.