EXCERPT:
SOURCE:
The president of the Belarusian bishops’ conference said this week that the number of priests in the country is diminishing, making the provision of pastoral care increasingly challenging in the eastern region.
Sample Excerpt:
"It is quite possible that a return to the original way priests, bishops, and popes were ordained would actually help solve one of the worst episodes in human history — the sexual abuse of minors by priests and numerous cover-ups by church leaders."
Source (2026):
https://norwalkreflector.com/news/1484401/priests-including-st-peter-could-marry-for-1000-years-why-not-now/
Latin Rite Catholics (whether Cardinals or Lay Faithful), be careful!!
In the attempt -- however noble in motive -- to defend the discipline of *mandated* celibacy like it's some type of dogma, you are insulting and offputting those with a legitimate married priesthood tradition of Christianity.
The words chosen tend to backfire and fester old wounds, instigate instead of heal, and simply add fuel to the fire.
The return of (more) married priests to the Latin Church, on the other hand, would foster a better understanding of the ancient married priesthood so that the Church's two lungs can breathe together once again.
Here's a sample of how +Stickler's case has been rebutted by scholars like Father Deacon Anthony Dragani, Ph.D.:
"Normally I would not concern myself with a defense of the Roman Catholic discipline of mandatory celibacy. After all, it is their tradition and they certainly have a right to defend it. However, this new literature goes a step further and seriously questions the legitimacy of the Eastern tradition of a married priesthood. Representative of the position is 'The Case for Clerical Celibacy,' by Cardinal Alfons Maria Stickler. This book is essentially a popularization of the claims of two other authors, distilled into a very readable format. Cardinal Stickler aims to get the word out that mandatory celibacy is the genuine discipline, and that the tradition practiced in the East is an unfortunate “innovation.”[1]"
"As an Eastern Catholic I am especially troubled by this claim. The history of Eastern Catholicism in North America has been marred by repeated attempts to impose mandatory celibacy upon us, always with tragic results. We have fought long and hard to affirm the legitimacy of our tradition of a married priesthood, and even now this issue is a subject of major concern and sensitivity. Therefore, the fact that an influential Cardinal has written a book that argues against the legitimacy of our tradition causes me some apprehension."
Full article:
https://east2west.org/articles/mandatory_clerical_celibacy/
Excerpts:
"As the number of priests dwindles and their workload soars, Ireland’s aging clergy have a heavy cross to bear."
‘When my mother died, I had to ring around to try and find a priest to cover for me. I know priests who went back to work the weekend after the death of their mother or father because there was no one to cover for them,” Fr Tim Hazelwood says.
Source (Sept. 2026): https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/features/one-saturday-we-had-a-funeral-a-wedding-a-first-communion-and-then-mass.-it-was-too-much-irelands-priests-are-feeling-the-pressure/a/145220315.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawUpRrVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBwZG9mBHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDzQwOTk2MjYyMzA4NTYwOQABHtwLD5uooDVRFHEf93dESmMRhGoEgi72s5JWQYCUXgnKSxaku9lXroaRVFgx_aem_UI2ODoX4TICAF1IzfdDxFg
Your Holiness, please open the priesthood to some/many of such married deacons with a fruitful diaconate, after suitable formation, and other married Roman Rite Catholic men not currently deacons, if bishops request it, using dispensations in Canon 1047.3 (to dispense Canon 1042.1).
Dear Holy Father, please open the Catholic priesthood to married deacons of the Latin Rite.
They are older tested men (viri probati) that are:
not paid by the diocese usually,
don't need a rectory or pension from the diocese,
experienced already in Sacraments and parish leadership,
are usually financially stable already,
are proven with family and married life,
didnt bankrupt billions the way mandated celibate priests bankrupted the Church,
and show the Latin Rite how marriage and ministry can be balanced the way it was done in the ancient Church.
marriedpriesthood.blogspot.com
They are Viri Probati to serve the Church in her hour of need, for the good of the Faithful, for just and reasonable cause to not neglect the Flock of God, for the defense of marriage and family life, and the salvation of souls.
Gratias agimus tibi.
“It is not eternal like priestly ordination, which is forever, whether you like it or not. Whether you leave or not is another matter, but it is forever. On the other hand, celibacy is a discipline.”
When asked by the Argentine journalist Daniel Hadad if celibacy “could be reviewed,” Pope Francis responded: “Yes, yes. In fact, everyone in the Eastern Church is married. Or those who want to. There they make a choice. Before ordination there is the choice to marry or to be celibate,” according to a transcript provided by Infobae.
Source: https://www.ewtnnews.com/vatican/pope-francis-discusses-revising-priestly-celibacy-in-new-interview
Dear Blessed Bishop Fulton Sheen, please pray for us and help us honor married priests in such a way that it does not damage relations between East & West. Many Catholics insult and degrade our married priests. We also pray especially for Orthodox-Catholic unity, ut unum sint (that they may be one), as Jesus is one with the Father. Help heal the Lord's Church to breathe with two lungs, that the world may believe in Jesus whom the Father has sent. We ask these in Jesus's Name. Amen.
"Therefore, it would seem that now is a fitting time for a theology of married priesthood to be developed from a western perspective, a theology that does not in any way deny the blessings or the normative character of the celibate priesthood in the west but that acknowledges that marriage offers its own unique gifts to the practice of priestly ministry."
Fr. Jonathan Mitchican
(June 14, 2023)
Source:
https://contemplativeapologetics.substack.com/p/a-theology-of-married-priesthood
"The war of the Evil One against the Lord is a war against the family, and the war of the Evil One against the family is the core of his war against the Lord."
- St. Sharbel
