First Thoughts: UPDATED: John Haldane Calls for Married Priests
Despite the long history of the discipline of clerical celibacy in the Roman rite, I am not so attached to it. I would not be bothered if the rule was changed so that married men could be ordained to the priesthood. An increase in the number of smaller neighborhood communities (and their temples) would probably require an increase in the number of priests, and it is doubtful whether this would be financially viable for many urban areas in the United States. There would have to be a core group of members who could provide financial support for the community.
Is such a change necessary to increase the number of candidates to the priesthood? There is in the Western Patriarchate (or in the United States, at least) a crisis in authority rooted in a crisis in masculinity - admitting older married candidates may help alleviate certain problems in the exercise of authority and pastoral care, provided that they have the leadership qualities that the younger men lack (along with many bishops). Do we have a shortage of manly Catholic fathers?
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