Married Priests

Last updated on: July 12, 2014 at 12:08 pm by Pia de Solenni

Married Priests 2014-07-12T12:08:47-07:00 Pia de Solenni

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One of the standard hurdles thrown at Catholics is the question of why doesn’t the Catholic Church allow married priests, particularly when there’s a vocation crisis?

[Aside – In interviews, I generally try to point out that we need to define what is meant by a “vocations crisis” because vocations to the clerical and religious lives are in fact thriving in some areas..]

Fr. Dwight Longenecker, fellow blogger at here Patheos has a great column in ZENIT addressing precisely this question. Here’s a quick glimpse. [Emphasis mine]:

Not necessarily. Having married priests would certainly help the vocations crisis, and married men might relate better to married people. However, believing that married priests are the answer assumes that they are mature, happily married men. With a bit of reflection we can all see that marriage in and of itself does not automatically make a man mature, self giving and happy….

Remember married men are not perfect. Married clergymen are often workaholics. Many married clergymen are immature. Some married clergymen have sexual problems just like celibate men do. Married clergymen have drink problems. Married clergymen struggle with porn and same sex attraction and abuse children. When a clergy marriage breaks down it is usually disastrous and scandalous and the hurt and pain ripple right through the whole church. I don’t mean to paint a horrible picture of married clergy–just reminding people that it’s not all quite as happy and wonderful as they seem to think.

There are other practical problems. Catholics say they want married clergy, but do they want to pay for them? As a married man with a family I get by because I earn an extra income through my writing and speaking. In addition to this my wife runs her own business. Not all married priests and their families can do this.

Do read the whole piece here. Fr. Dwight’s experience as a married priest brings a lot to the discussion.

The point about whether we’re willing to pay for married priests is particularly interesting. Based on what I’ve seen of diocesan budgets, appeals, and parish giving, I see no indication that we are.

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