A Catholic Archbishop Says Priests Should be Allowed to Marry

Things are changing in the Catholic Church. The Pope ruled that divorced and remarried couples can receive communion. Then he allowed gay people entering marriage to be "blessed."  (I don't claim to know what it means to be "blessed" but apparently it is a big deal to some Catholics.) Now an Archbishop on the island of Malta says let's keep this thing rolling. Let's allow priests to marry.

The concept of the celibate priest, as we know, is not absolute even now. A man who decides to make a career in the priesthood after marrying can do so. There is no requirement priests be virgin men. 

The Archbishop in Malta points out the cases we have all heard of. There are priests who love women and want to share in the life of those women and do so secretly. Children fathered by priests is so common there is a for policy dealing with support of such children. 

In addition, the archbishop points to the impracticality of young men who are good candidates for the priesthood but who also want to be married. He asks why the church should deprive itself of good priests just over the marriage issue?

Having watched requirements for clergy for several years, I know reducing the requirements involves many variables. Some of it, of course, is simply tradition and reluctance to try something new. Other parts are simply self interest of existing clergy who want to protect themselves and their futures. A current priest or bishop might say, "Wait a minute. I went without a wife or family for this position. I'll be really pissed off if some young married guy waltzes in and gets promoted over me."

I saw this discussed on an online seminar in the Lutheran Missouri Synod. A young pastor with a background in my field of economics was explaining to a room of other preachers the denomination might halt its downward spiral by having more preachers starting new churches. To do this, he explained, aspiring preachers would need less costly degrees. He advocated online classes instead of the current requirement of expensive residential seminaries. Some preachers in the room objected. The presenter asked if some opposition came from knowing those with online degrees may be hired in the most desirable churches instead of those who had spent tons of money and time in residential seminaries? No one argued with him. 

Both Catholics and most Protestant denominations need to take new approaches to their incoming clergy. They have, however, painted themselves into a corner and mostly will be unable to change.