Married Priests acting outside Catholic Church attract a following

[papau]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-married8jul08,0,321207.story?track=tottext

COLUMN ONE
Fathers, Husbands and Rebels
Acting outside the Catholic Church, many married priests are attracting a following.
By Elizabeth Mehren
Times Staff Writer

July 8, 2005

BOSTON — The priests came from three states, converging on a suburban park one Sunday to conduct an outdoor Mass. Wearing white vestments with rainbow-hued stoles, they led the worshippers in prayer and song. They stuck closely to traditional Roman Catholic liturgy.

But as they raised their arms in blessing, the five men revealed unmistakable proof of defiance: All wore wedding bands.

These men, who still consider themselves Roman Catholic priests, have wives, children — and unflinching commitments to their 2,000-year-old faith. As married priests, they say, they are not heretical anomalies but, instead, are following a model set by priests and popes in the earliest days of their church. They are part of a growing national network of thousands of deeply religious men who believe marriage does not compromise their ability to serve as spiritual ministers.

These married priests honor ordination as an irreversible sacrament, though the church no longer recognizes them as priests. They are solemnizing marriages — including second marriages and same-sex unions. They baptize babies. They officiate at funerals. They say Masses at healthcare facilities and private homes.

More and more rank-and-file Catholics, whose respect for church hierarchy was shattered by the clerical sex-abuse scandal, are accepting married priests and seeking their services.<snip>

[tk2kewl]

1. This is cool. I wonder if there are any in NY? As a nonpracticing

Catholic I would love to meet these people and maybe even attend a Mass that isn't a funeral, wedding or baptism.

I wonder how they feel about female priests.

[papau]

2. I do not know the answer to your question - I just read this- but link for

the Massachusetts ministry known as CITI: Celibacy Is The Issue is the Rent A Priest website http://www.rentapriest.com

I think it is well past the time the church goe back to pre-1000 AD rules.

[Beaver Tail]

3. I would love to see

The Hypocrisy of the Roman Catholic Church fall apart. Lets hope this is a growing trend that "hits home" in Rome

[David__77]

4. I do not support changing Catholic policy until they welcome gay people.

I at least hold the position that the Catholic church is more principled than the protestants, in terms of putting opposite-sex relations "outside marriage" on the same plane as same-sex relations, which unfortunately according to them, must also be "outside marriage." Why should I as a gay man support them becoming like the protestants who uphold the universal merit of heterosexual marriage and leave gay people out in the cold?

[bleedingheart]

5. unlike my great grandfather, a priest, who fathered a child

that he had to pretend wasn't his....

kudos to these fellows.

[Nikia]

6. Going along with this

My husband and I have met two Episcapalian priests who began their ministry as Catholic priests. They both married and became Episcapalian priests. Some married Episcapalian priests have become Catholic priests, but I don't think that the Catholic Church would welcome these men back.

[Matilda]

7. The Church, under John Paul II, refused to grant married priests

the sacraments. Previously, they were regarded as Catholics able
to practise their faith within the Church, but no longer. They
are still regarded as priests for all time, and therefore they are
living in mortal sin. I haven't heard of anything changing under
Benedict, and I shouldn't think it would be likely.

I find this interpretation of Church law to be particularly cruel.