This Sunday, October 26th, 2008 is World Priest Day and the irony is not lost on us that this event is sponsored by Worldwide Marriage Encounter even as our priests are denied the joy of marriage and a family and those who do choose to marry may no longer function as priests in the Roman Catholic Church.The organizers of WPD encourage us to use it as a time to thank and pray for our priests. Let's join in that and also use it as a day to pray for an end to mandatory celibacy so that our priests may be free to marry and married people who are called to the priesthood may be ordained.
For more information on World Priest Day, suggested activities and prayers, etc, go to the official World Priest Day Web site.
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2 comments:
To Whom it May Concern:
I am a Roman Catholic woman, raised solidly in my Faith. I wanted to discuss with you your website and your services. You claim things on your website that are frankly untrue and grossly misconstrued. You constantly mis-quote the Catholic Faith and re-present Canon Law in ways to suit your needs and services. You took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, all of which you have broken. You ask for money via the heretical website, rentapriest.com and broke your vow of chastity when you ran away to marry. Through these actions and I am assuming others, you also viotaled your vow of obedience.
No one can stop what you are doing. No one can remove your heretical websites and blog postings. I will, however, ask you to check your facts and I will keep you in my most fervent of prayers. The damage you are doing to the Faith is horrific. I would recommend you seek the advice from a legitimate, educated priest and remove the misrepresented information from your website.
Adrienne
Adrienne, I've been doing most of the postings on this blog lately and I am a single lay woman who is not married to or romantically involved with any priest.
We are advocating for an end to the celibacy requirement in order to increase vocations to the priesthood, keep existing priests in service, and enable those who left to get married to return to active duty. We are doing this because we believe it is a scandal that so many parishes are closing or only having Mass once a month due to the priest shortage while so many who are able and willing to serve are prevented from doing so solely because of their marital status.
It is also a scandal that priests who have affairs on the side but don't openly acknowledge their partners and children can continue to serve with impunity, while those who do the right thing and get married are ostracized by the Church they served and by their congregations (if members of religious orders).
And it is a scandal that the Church is allowing married priests from other denominations to waive into the Roman Catholic priesthood while not allowing married priests who have been lifelong Catholics to return to duty. The fact that the Church has found ways to accommodate these converts and their families gives lie to both the practical ("The Church can't afford to maintain the priest's family") and theological ("Jesus was single") justifications for the celibacy requirement.
Calling for an end to this charade is not heretical. We are merely one voice among many, which also include seminary directors, bishops, and scholars who have studied the changes in the Roman Catholic priesthood across history.
What IS a threat to the essence of the Catholic faith is a future of parishes without the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation. If these are no longer regularly available due to the shortage of priests, then we will have lost what most distinguishes us from our Protestant brethren.
The Church needs to wake up and change before it becomes extinct.
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