Fr. Dwight Longenecker on Viri Probati News Headline: "OK. That works" but sometimes the media inaccurately reports on married priests out of "ignorance, not malice."

Fr. Dwight Longenecker, again, is another voice of sanity in the discussions on married Roman Catholic priests.

Here is a blog of his not conflating married priests along with other heterodox issues: https://dwightlongenecker.com/pope-wants-priests-to-marry/

Thank you, Father!


Excerpt:

To show how the media constantly gets things wrong check this out: Pope Francis asks the Brazilian bishops to bring forward a proposal to ease the terrible shortage of priests in remote areas. The suggestion is that older married men–catechists or deacons–who are already ministering to outlying Catholic populations, might be ordained as priests.

These are the “viri probati” or “tested older men”. So the Daily Telegraph in London reports it with this headline: Pope Raises Prospect of Married Men Becoming Priests OK. That works. But the Tweet linking to the article proclaims, “Pope Requests Roman Catholic Priests be Given Right To Marry.”

This is why you can’t really trust the media to report on Catholic matters accurately. This is not because they are being deceitful all the time, but because much of the time they simply don’t understand. It’s ignorance not malice.

For those who are not yet fully informed on the matter, celibacy for priests is a discipline not a doctrine. That means it can be changed and exceptions can be made. Men like myself, who are married former Anglican priests can be given a dispensation from the vow of celibacy allowing us to be ordained.