Married Catholic Priests on the Increase in America

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee recently asked Wisconsin parishes in Waukesha to accept a married priest with minor children as an associate pastor. How can this be possible? Isn't it common knowledge that priests cannot marry? Because I was raised Catholic and have family and friends who are practicing Catholics in Waukesha, my interest in the subject of married Catholic priests was recently piqued by this situation.

When friends in Waukesha told me about a "letter of request" and provided me with a set of questions and answers about marriage and priests from Wisconsin's Archbishop to their local parish, my first question was, "How could that be possible?" Last time I knew, Catholic priests and nuns took oaths of celibacy, which certainly meant married men couldn't be priests, period. Apparently I'm wrong in my understanding - at least as it applies to some priests in some areas.

In his letter to the parishes, Wisconsin's Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan said an exception to the celibacy rule was created by Pope John Paul II in 1980. The exception currently applies only to married Lutheran and Episcopal priests who convert to Catholicism and pursue the priesthood. I'm told that, according to Archbishop Dolan, the U.S. has seen at least 100 married priests ordained since 1980.

In the Wisconsin case, Father Michael Scheip is a former Lutheran minister. He's married and he and his wife have minor children together. Father Scheip joined the Catholic Church in 1988; five years later he was ordained a priest. He served in the Archdiocese of Venice, Fla., until recently hired to serve in Wisconsin. This is a first for the state and a first for my friends.

In doing a little research, I learned that for the first 14 centuries of the Roman Catholic Church, some 39 popes, as well as bishops and priests, were married. Those Roman Catholic "clergy" who remained celibate at that time were primarily monks. Long story made short, mandatory celibacy was eventually imposed on European priests by popes who, for purposes of political power in Rome, took land from married priests and their families and forced the men to choose: families or the priesthood. Over time since then, the prior long-standing tradition of a married priesthood has been virtually forgotten by most Roman Catholics in America.

What does that mean for today? According to the website of Father Vince Corso, who was ordained a Catholic priest in 1980 and married to his wife Christine in 1991, there are more than 110,000 married Roman Catholic priests worldwide; more than 20,000 of them are in the U.S. Needless to say, this came as a shock to my former Catholic sensibilities.

According to Archbishop Dolan's written set of questions and answers to the Catholics in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Pope Paul VI has stated clearly that celibacy is not a requirement of the priesthood itself - even though celibacy is universally practiced in the Roman Catholic Church in America. Although celibacy may be preferred in terms of a priest being able to focus more on the things of God, it's not a universal discipline. In fact, in the Eastern world, the Roman Catholic Church never completely adopted celibacy for priests.

As times and circumstances change, the Roman Catholic Church in America is now beginning to admit married priests in some cases, such as those of Father Scheip.

According to Archbishop Dolan, Pope Pius XII granted special permission for some Lutheran ministers to enter the priesthood after World War II, and Pope Paul John II allowed exceptions for married Episcopal priests. Although men from other Christian denominations are not included at this time, there are some who are asking to be considered for ordination as married priests. Time will tell what this means for the Catholic Church in America and whether the priesthood will return to its original tradition.

Resources:

Father Vince Corso's website; http://fathervince.home.att.net/index.htm