A Question of Rights
Catholic Justice Fails Married Priests
By James E. Biechler
I'm sure I'm not the only
Catholic who is bothered by all the fuss about ex-priests. They want be
allowed to continue on as priests but they want to stay married as well.
They broke their vows and the church's rules and now they whine about how
the church treats them. How can they continue to complain when the church
gave them what they wanted?
--W. W., Mankato, MN
Yes, I'm sure you're right
that some Catholics cannot understand what the "fuss" is all about. I hope
these reflections may be of help in filling out your picture of the situation.
In the first place, you must
understand that there is no such thing as an "ex-priest." Once a person
receives the sacrament of Holy Orders it remains as a permanent character
and that person can never become "unordained." It is not possible, according
to Catholic teaching, for an ordained person ever to become again a lay
person in the strict sense. It is not, therefore, appropriate to refer
to those priests who have married as "ex-priests." I know it is commonly
done and done without any specific intent to deny their ordained status.
When the New York Times wrote its account of the 1985 "Universal Synod
of Married Catholic Priests and Their Wives" it carefully avoided referring
to them as "ex-priests."
Now, about the "whining."
You may agree with the Reverend Andrew Greeley who believes that men who
leave the priesthood are unhappy, lonely, frustrated, discouraged, oppressed.
(Cf. The American Ecclesiastical Review, 161:4, 251-257). Their unhappiness
was not ordinary unhappiness but it was "profound," "pervasive" and "chronic."
Such men are also naive: "naive about the world, naive about sex, naive
about theology, and naive about human society", and (worst of all) "naive
about marriage." These men are also "bitter" and "defensive", "immature"
and "superficial." Hardly any wonder that they also turn out to be what
you call "whiners." Greeley's assessment is probably shared by many although
it does not apply to a single one of the many married priests I know. They
have been, on the contrary, dedicated and admirable Catholics who have
overcome enormous difficulties in entering new professions, raising and
educating children, and giving exceptionally dedicated service to their
communities and to the church.
Just what might be behind
your question? Is it something like what a group of married priests wrote
in an open letter to Cardinal Hume: "Many of us are unable to regularize
our positions because of the vindictive legal process which demands that
we prove that we should never have been ordained in the first place! Others,
who have indults of laicization are forbidden to exercise in the church
the teaching and pastoral roles available to, and incumbent upon, every
baptized Christian....there are even some still alive who are in possession
of older indults which have freed them from priestly obligations, but forbid
them ever to marry and insist that they emigrate" (The Tablet, May 18,
1996, p. 669).
Every married priest knows
these statements are in no way exaggerated. Every married priest knows
that as far as the hierarchy is concerned, he is persona non grata. He
is officially barred from any public ministry, he is forbidden to teach
religion in Catholic schools, he must reside in a place where it is not
known that he is a priest. His name is often stricken from the list of
his ordination class. It is practically unknown for any bishop ever to
have uttered a single positive or pastorally understanding statement about
the married priests who were once their colleagues and co-workers.
That is why the public statements
of Bishop Patrick Power of Canberra-Goulburn, Australia, to a group of
married priests are so remarkable. The Australian of May 1996 quotes him
as telling a group of married priests and their wives that their resignation
from official church ministry was a change in direction, rather than an
end in ministry. "You are all messengers of hope to people because you
have trod the path of pain and suffering as you successfully work through
the crisis of leaving official ministry and began a new life. This journey
has equipped you to reach out to others as a beacon of hope and a helping
hand to them in their time of trial and sorrow."
What is even more interesting
is that Bishop Power expressed the hope that bishops and priests would
recognize the value of the ministry of married priests and would therefore
give them significant roles in the parishes in which they live.
You'll have to admit that
you never heard a bishop talk like that before! If anything, bishops have
referred to their former colleagues as traitors and Judases, they have
rarely shown them any pastoral understanding, and almost no appreciation
of the brave women who share their lives with these men.
"You are all messengers of
hope to people because you have trod the path of pain and suffering as
you successfully worked through the crisis of leaving official ministry
and began a new life." Bishop Patrick Power
I don't think "whining" is
the word we want here. ARCC is talking about justice, about the rights
of all the baptized. Married priests do not enjoy these rights to the same
degree as do other baptized persons. They have been and are still the victims
of a dysfunctional ecclesiastical system. Thanks be to God for pastoral
bishops like Patrick Power!
Dr. Biechler, an emeritus
professor of religion, is a member of ARCC's board of directors. He also
holds a licentiate in canon law and is a longtime member of the Canon Law
Society of America.
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