tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10354109.post4860839382704435628..comments2023-09-21T08:03:48.904-04:00Comments on Rentapriest: To marry or not: For Catholic priests, that is not the questionAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14315936198315018045noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10354109.post-68219072354977934172008-04-27T15:04:00.000-04:002008-04-27T15:04:00.000-04:00Sophia, I would be interested in reading you thesi...Sophia, I would be interested in reading you thesis on "Images of the Virgin Mary" Secondly what we the sources you used for the data on celebacy?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10354109.post-52464829971208053522007-06-26T19:11:00.000-04:002007-06-26T19:11:00.000-04:00While researching my Master's Thesis on Images of ...While researching my Master's Thesis on Images of the Virgin Mary, I had occasion to compare the practices and policies of the first 800-1000 years of the early church and have learned that the Western [Rome] Church, demanded celebacy of its priests for the various reasons that you mentioned but most importantly for economic reasons. It was in order to prevent the loss of land and property of priests, bishops and archbishops, through inheritance to their sons and sometimes, even daughters. <BR/><BR/>The Eastern Church did not favor this practice. This caused some animosity between the Latin speaking West and the Greek speaking East. The conflict between West and East escalated while both factions were proselytizing and converting pagans in Eastern Europe, namely Bulgaria, and thereabouts. This was probably most notable in the 8th, 8th and 10 centuries. I believe Hugh Trevor-Roper, Robin Lane Fox, and Karen Armstrong, among others would concur.<BR/><BR/>The fact that Eastern Orthodox Clergy allow marriage for priests, yet maintain celebacy rules for those who wish to rise in rank to Archbishop, Bishop, Metropolitan, Patriarch, and Archimandrite, speaks for itself. Prior to ordination, a man must be married, and THEN take his final vows and be ordained. There are options.<BR/><BR/>I was quite surprised when Pope John Paul did not reinstate the married clergy; especially after, realizing that in some communist Eastern European countries, Catholic priests had "gone underground" by marrying, yet maintaining their cleric status, [baptising children, marrying couples, and probably performing funeral and other rites. They did this, as I understand it, in order to evade the athiestic Communist system.<BR/><BR/>Sophia Manoulian Kugeares<BR/>Clearwater, FLAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com