Religion Dispatches -
By
Sara Ritchey The Rev. Jeffrey Steenson at his ordination ceremony at
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Rio Rancho, NM in 2009.
Welcome to the CORPUS Blog. CORPUS is a faith community affirming and rooted in a revitalized church including an inclusive priestly ministry. Please visit our web site: www.corpus.org Our Blog will be a portal to news, articles and resources enabling you to keep up-to-date in the Catholic Reform process.
This is only the most recent departure of the Church from the mandatory celibacy it requires of born Catholic priests in the Latin Rite. A quick google reveals others, dating back as far as inquiring people have ventured. One occurred in 1951 when Pius XII ordained Rudolf Goethe, a Lutheran pastor -- a story carried in Time. A group of American priests, the National Association for Pastoral Renewal, proposed an Ordinariate for Roman Catholic married priests back in 1967 -- a proposal the bishops flatly rejected. Put simply, Church leaders have been lying about the importance of celibacy for as long as any of us have lived and will continue to do so. They have rejected a generation of their priestly colleagues and the Church is now facing a long shortage of priests that they have created by deciding that Matrimony is not a sacrament that is consistent with Orders -- that is, not for born Catholics.
ReplyDeleteCarl Hemmer Ashburn, VA