I feel a calling to be a Catholic priest, but I am married, can my wife become a nun and I be a priest?

Question

For instance, divorce is a sin, can we still be married but take a vow of celibacy and enter the vocation?

Answer 1

There are some speial circumstances, but it all involves priests of other faiths becoming catholic priests and it involved a pardon from the pope himself.

Although you can not join the preisthood or the Bishops(without paple intervention), you CAN become a Decan and on the positive side Decans dont have to take the the vow of celebecy... which means you and your old lady can still consumate every night.

You will have almost all the same responsibillities as a priest but you cant take confessions and you cant bless the sacrament.

Essentially you would be the Priests assistant.

Answer 2

I am a young widow who does not desire marriage and has an 8 yr old. After he is grown, I will become a nun... I have researched it and it is possible for me. Ever since I was 12, I wanted to be a nun, but my family was mormon and would not allow it. I was abused greatly physically and otherwise if i even would speak of it. I was finally married off at a young age because I had begun to have a severe case of "agoraphobia" and so it was taken full advantage of. I don't know if you can take holy orders when you are married, although I would NOT suggest you get divorced by any means.

There is something I am looking into, besides being a nun... until my son grows up. I think you can even become one if you are married. It's called a "Benedictine Oblate"... from what i understand it is something like being a nun or a priest but without having to devote all of your time or live in a monastery or convent because of your station in life, i.e.: you have to care for children. This is what I plan to be until I can become a nun. Here is a website I found that may help you see if this may be right for you and your wife.

http://www.osb.org/obl/intro.html

Answer 3

I can't help noticing you never said one word about what SHE feels about it. If you feel "called" to become a catholic priest, you can't expect, or demand, that she accommodate you by becoming a nun. Besides, I thought nuns were not supposed to be married, because they are "married to christ"

Another thing I read a while back is that there are in fact many married Catholic Priests... men who have felt that calling after they had already become married. You don't hear anything about it hardly, because, obviously, the Church doesn't want to spread this around, otherwise it will fire up the old argument about why a man has to be celibate anyway. It's been a growing undercurrent of dissent for some years now, and because of it, the recruitment into the priesthood has been slipping downhill.

I know what I would say if I were your wife.... Baby, if you have decided you want to suddenly break our marriage vows (which I thought was also a sin) and escape from the marriage partnership by becoming a celibate priest, well, go right ahead. But I am not going to turn myself into any "don't- want nun" so bye bye.

Answer 4

I would like to say up front that the following answers are my opinions. Also, part of the answers to questions on divorce must include grace. God is not a Law Master who wants to forcefully bring His people into broken submission. God is very forgiving and loving. He wants His people to experience joy and fulfillment in their lives and this can only be done in the grace of forgiveness. Jesus bore all your sins, even the sins of divorce. They have been paid for. He will not bring them up again on the Day of Judgment. You are free in Christ.
However, there are some biblical guidelines that we need to be aware of regarding divorce. I offer the following outline as a suggestion of options.

What if a person was an unbeliever when he got divorced and it was for an unbiblical reason and later became a Christian? What should he do?
If reconciliation is an option, seek it.
However,
If the ex-spouse is not a Christian, he should not remarry the spouse because a believer is not to marry an unbeliever (2 Cor. 6:14).
If either spouse has gotten married, remarriage is not an option either (Deut. 24:3-4; Mark 10:11-12).
If the ex spouse will have nothing to do with any reconciliation or you are not able to contact this person, you are free to remarry.
If the spouse has died, you are free to remarry.
What if a person was a believer when he got divorced, but the reason was not adultery or abandonment, and wants to remarry someone different now what should he do?
If you initiated the divorce, then you should not remarry (Matt. 5:31), However....
Reconciliation with the initial spouse should be sought with confession of sin and the request for forgiveness.
If it was the spouse that left without a biblical reason, then you are free to remarry.
Reconciliation should be sought with a confession of sin.
What if a couple was divorced, married others, got divorced, and wants to become remarried to again?
The Bible says that you cannot return to your first spouse after you remarried (Deut. 24:3-4; Jer. 3:1).
If you have, nevertheless, already gotten married, continue in your marriage and seek the Lord's forgiveness. He will give it.
What if a person was a believer when he got divorced, but the reason was not adultery or abandonment, and has already gotten married. Is he in sin?
Depending on the circumstances, he may be. But he should confess his sin to the lord and spouse and seek forgiveness from the original spouse and then he should stay married and be the best husband (or wife) he can be.

Answer 5

become a deacon...you can still be married, but you dont have the same power as a priest...talk to your wife about the vow of celebacy then talk to your priest. It's still great to be a deacon! it's beautiful how much you love God!!! be a deacon, talk to your wife and priest. May the Lord be with you and your family

Priest can be married in the Catholic Church, the thing is there are Catholics and there are Roman Catholics which follow the Pope. I'm a Roman Catholic and if you are one also then no you cannot be a priest but if you are not then yes you can..

Answer 6

No, but if you bump off your wife, then you could become a priest. It worked for the Borgias when they wanted to be popes.

Alternately, you could just become a monk. Priest aren't allowed to have sex with nuns. But its ok for monks.

Actually, I'm just kidding about that...

Seriously, if you feel called to do some sort of ministry in the Catholic church, there ARE positions that married lay people can work in. Just talk to a Catholic priest to find out what you could do. I'm sure there is something that would interest you.

Answer 7

First, divorce is NOT a sin- unless YOU are the reason for the divorce....then your actions are sinful, not the divorce.

NO, you have each made a commitment to the other. Your vocation is marriage.

Have you considered the Diaconate? The wife of a deacon has a special ministry.

If you become a deacon and your wife dies, you may pursue the priesthood since widowed deacons can not marry.

Answer 8

I've no idea about your wife becoming a nun, but as for you, it is possible. No need to take a vow of celibacy either; my understanding is that God's commandment to procreate trumps the Catholic rule that priests be celibate (you'll note that the Bible doesn't require priests to be celibate).

Answer 9

Does your wife have a calling to be a bride of christ?

The fact is, if you truly feel that calling, and service as a decon or lay person is not enough, there is an order of Catholic Priests from the Greek Tradition who recognized the authority of Rome during the 1st Schism. They are granted a penury indulgence to wed. Look into it.

Answer 10

It has happened before. Although there were certain provisions that allowed it to happen. Perhaps you still can if that is truly what you wish. Here is an article about a man who became a Catholic priest and he was married. He even had children. The Church even waived the celebacy requirement.