The most popular little dig consists of the suggestion that clerical celibacy is the reason behind all the woes of the Church. You name it, it's because the Catholic Church insists on celibacy. Falling attendance at Mass, lack of vocations, child abuse and homosexual clergy would all stop, immediately, if the Pope would only be realistic and allow married clergy.
At this point, an "ex-priest" is often cited as being so unfairly treated (if not actually trotted out in person) compared to his ex-Anglican married brethren who have been welcomed into the Catholic Church with open arms. The little inconvenient fact that the former has broken his vow of priestly celibacy, while the latter have not, is ignored.
Fr. Longenecker is a former Anglican priest who crossed the Tiber a while back. He's also married. As he points out, the Anglican Church has got married clergy, and that hasn't stopped the problems, demonstrated by this piece in the Telegraph. As an aside, it looks as though allowing women priests has problems too...
1 comment:
I'm wondering if the anti-Catholic crowd in the BBC are actually Catholic in whatever bygone religious affiliation.
It usually takes a special kind of being different to come up with something like throwing one sacrament (Matrimony) superstitiously at another sacrament (Holy Orders) so as to pretend, for instance, regarding sexual abuse, that we won't have more of that anymore since we'll be able to change the name of it to incest.
People, including some bishops and cardinals, ought to wake up about the vocation of the priest to be married to the Church through the very Sacrifice that he offers at Holy Mass, which is Christ's own wedding with the Church. The two wedding vows: This is my Body... This is my Blood. If the priest thinks that he is not married, he doesn't know why he is a priest.
Father George
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