Pope Francis Lifts Mandatory Celibacy for Eastern Catholic Clergy

There is very big news in Eastern Catholic circles.

Pope Francis has approved lifting the ban on the ordination of married men to the priesthood in Eastern Catholic churches outside their traditional territories, including in the United States, Canada and Australia. The ban was not being observed by some Eastern Catholic bishops in recent decades, but in more recent years Rome tended to look the other way. Now the situation is regularized, with any Eastern Catholic church free to abolish mandatory celibacy.

Each Eastern church is sui juris, and so the Ruthenians can ordain married men to the priesthood anywhere now, while the Syro-Malabars, for example, are free to retain the discipline of celibacy in the diaspora, though Rome does not require it of them.

Read the story, including some interesting history, here.

 

 

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Katharine E. Harmon, Ph.D., edits the blog, Pray Tell: Worship, Wit & Wisdom.

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Comments

12 responses to “Pope Francis Lifts Mandatory Celibacy for Eastern Catholic Clergy”

  1. Joshua Vas

    I’m a little confused by the comment….the Syro-Malabar observe the discipline of celibacy both in the traditional territory and the diaspora. Is Rome proposing the question for their bishops anew?

    Reply
  2. Paul Inwood

    I think Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara are the two exceptions to all this?

    Reply
  3. Dennis Smolarski, SJ

    I wonder if the reference to the Maronites should have been to the Syro-Malankara Church of India, who, along with the Syro-Malabar Church adopted priestly celibacy when they reunited with Rome (there are on-line references to the Coptic Catholic Church also observing this practice). The Maronites have had a married presbyterate, as the publicized ordination of a married man in St. Louis in Feb 2014 indicates.

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    1. Anthony Ruff, OSB Avatar
      Anthony Ruff, OSB

      @Dennis Smolarski, SJ – comment #3:
      I’m told that the Maronites also have adopted priestly celibacy. I don’t claim to be real well-informed on all this – does anyone know?

      In response to the first question, my understanding is that Rome is not proposing it or asking them to re-examine it, but truly leaving it up to them. Which could well mean that the make no change, that they don’t even take it up to consider a possible change.

      awr

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  4. Jordan Zarembo

    Overjoyed and happy for the Eastern clergy in the diaspora. God bless them in their ministry, as always.

    Does this mean that we are close to an apostolic constitution permitting secular Roman seminarians to wed before the diaconate? Pope Francis, I pray the time is now. I wonder if he knows how long some of the Roman faithful have been waiting for married priests.

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  5. Frank Agnoli

    Is an English translation of the document available? The only version that I can find is in Italian (AAS – June 6, 2014).

    Reply
  6. Dennis Smolarski, SJ

    Re: Comment #4. According to a Maronite Jesuit in my community, over half of the priests in his home diocese are married and in other dioceses the percentage is higher.

    Re: Comment #6. Try: http://www.byzcath.org/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/409388/Re:_Pope_Francis_universally_a

    and scroll down. Inside a “quote” box, you will find an English translation that is a readable and smooth.

    Reply
    1. Anthony Ruff, OSB Avatar
      Anthony Ruff, OSB

      @Dennis Smolarski, SJ – comment #7:
      Dennis – thank you for this information. I have changed the original post.
      awr

      Reply
  7. Hal Weidner

    Look the other way indeed. I have met many married clegy in the US. The eastern churches here in the US especially after the fall of the Soviet Union decided on their own to send their married clergy to the US because of the migration out of the former Soviet Union. I notice too that they elect their bishops and then Rome confirms the election. The official version though always says “The Holy Father appoints xxx as Bishop of YYY.” No mention that he was elected by the other bishops. Pray for the Ukrainian Catholics in North America. Their leadership is really pastoral.

    Reply
  8. Fr. Jack Feehily

    Many seminarians of the Latin Rite may not be receiving this news in entirely good spirits. The presumption is that they entered the seminary because they discerned a vocation to priesthood and celibacy. The ones who may be open to marriage with a change in discipline might entertain a leave of absence to see what comes next. For that reason I believe American bishops will not be eager for a change other than permission to ordain mature married men on a case by case basis. This is a step in the right direction. I am heartened that my favorite traddie welcomes this development.

    Reply
  9. Aaron Sanders

    I consider this a wise move from the standpoint of giving true deference to Eastern traditions – if we really believe those traditions are of equal dignity and ought to be preserved, it makes little sense to say they deserve preservation on Old World soil but nowhere else.

    On the other hand, this will likely fan the flames of controversy not only within the Latin church (where those opposing mandatory celibacy will press their case with renewed fervor) but also among the churches (as Westerners may feel a need to defend their tradition with renewed vigor). That controversy will be welcome if it leads to clarification on the good of clerical continence and the reasons that may have impelled the East (and now, in modern times, the West) to depart from that norm. But I expect things to get much more confused before we derive any greater clarity.

    Reply
  10. Gerard Flynn

    Does this decision apply equally to Catholic of an Eastern and of an Oriental rite?

    Reply

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