'Is God really only calling single, celibate men to the priesthood?'
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
April 10, 2019
By Kate Thayer
Just a year after becoming a Catholic priest, Doug Langner said the loneliness started to creep in.
“You would go through times of (thinking), wouldn’t it be nice to just share your day with someone else?” said Langner, who was ordained in 2008 after graduating from Mundelein Seminary, and started to work in a Kansas City, Mo.-area parish. Soon he was the only priest assigned to his church, living alone in the rectory, which isn’t uncommon as the Catholic Church faces a priest shortage that has forced many churches to shut down or merge.
Then, Langner met someone.
She worked at the church and was going through a divorce. The two had a connection, Langner said, though they didn’t act on it.
But it helped him address doubts that had been there all along. It made him ask himself, “Are you really going to spend the next 50 years … of your life without someone to share it with?”
It turns out, he wasn’t. Langner left the priesthood about two years after his ordination. He said the vow of celibacy and the isolation it breeds weren’t for him, but his resolve as a Catholic remains intact.
Former altar boy sexually abused by priest tells why he's raising his kids in the Catholic Church »
“I think there is a place in the church for people who are called to celibacy. They live it out in a beautiful way,” he said. “But I also don’t think they’re the only people called. Is God really only calling single, celibate men to the priesthood?”
Chicago Tribune
April 10, 2019
By Kate Thayer
Just a year after becoming a Catholic priest, Doug Langner said the loneliness started to creep in.
“You would go through times of (thinking), wouldn’t it be nice to just share your day with someone else?” said Langner, who was ordained in 2008 after graduating from Mundelein Seminary, and started to work in a Kansas City, Mo.-area parish. Soon he was the only priest assigned to his church, living alone in the rectory, which isn’t uncommon as the Catholic Church faces a priest shortage that has forced many churches to shut down or merge.
Then, Langner met someone.
She worked at the church and was going through a divorce. The two had a connection, Langner said, though they didn’t act on it.
But it helped him address doubts that had been there all along. It made him ask himself, “Are you really going to spend the next 50 years … of your life without someone to share it with?”
It turns out, he wasn’t. Langner left the priesthood about two years after his ordination. He said the vow of celibacy and the isolation it breeds weren’t for him, but his resolve as a Catholic remains intact.
Former altar boy sexually abused by priest tells why he's raising his kids in the Catholic Church »
“I think there is a place in the church for people who are called to celibacy. They live it out in a beautiful way,” he said. “But I also don’t think they’re the only people called. Is God really only calling single, celibate men to the priesthood?”
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