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September-October Vol. 4 No. 5 |
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Playing The Waiting Game?
Rev. Dr. Neil Parado, Winnipeg, MB For the last 20 years or so there has been a growing crisis in lack of adequate pastoral leadership and service in the Roman Catholic Church. Catholic lay people in North and South America, in Europe, in Africa, in Asia and Oceania, have been suffering from lack of adequate pastoral care they deserve. To remedy this situation the official church has reintroduced married deacons and has promoted lay leadership of Sunday Communion Services in Priestless Parishes and lay administration of parishes. In many dioceses several parishes which used to have a resident priest are now being merged under one pastor and/or churches are closed down. For instance, Richard Osicki, Winnipeg Archdiocesan spokesman, announced in the Winnipeg Free Press, Sept. 20/99: Five churches will close this year & The reason is supply. There are not enough priests, and there have not been for many years. Fewer men are being ordained, and even fewer women are becoming nuns. There is no one coming up to replace the aging priests now serving. It’s a problem for Catholic churches across North America. The problem is likely to get worse before it gets better. Dr. Dean Hoge, a sociologist at the Catholic University of America, contends, The most immediate answer ( solution ) is, of course, making celibacy optional ( a matter of personal choice), because optional celibacy would draw at least four times as many vocations into the seminaries, not to mention the hundreds of married inactive priests ready and eager to serve. But the official church prefers to play the WAITING GAME, yes, waiting either for the crisis to just solve itself, or for the activist married priests to grow old and disappear. In the meantime, the shortage of celibate priests is becoming more acute with the result that hundreds of thousands of Catholic lay people are now forced to rent a priest either from the Protestant clergy or from the married Catholic clergy. They have turned to the RENT-A-PRIEST referral service (www.rentapriest.com) so as to attend to their sacramental and spiritual needs. Rev. John Shuster and Louise Haggett, Founder of CELIBACY IS THE ISSUE (CITI) and the RENT-A-PRIEST referral service, wrote the following position paper on Married Catholic Priests: Contrary to what you might have been told, we married priests have not left our Roman Catholic Church. Although denied the opportunity to serve in our local parishes as priests at the altar, we re still here and we re assisting all Roman Catholics who need our help, especially the neglected or those who feel unworthy of the sacraments. We provide valid weddings, home Masses, Anointing of the Sick, and sacramental ministry whenever we are called upon to serve. Using our valid gift of priesthood according to church law Canon 290, we provide nonjudgmental ministry that welcomes all. Jesus never turned anyone away, and neither will married priests. We believe that meeting your spiritual needs is what being married priests in our Roman Catholic Church is all about &" According to Matthew 19:11-12 and 1 Corinthians 7:7, celibacy is a freely given gift from God and, therefore, cannot be imposed by a human law, not even by church law. And 1 Cor. 9:5 speaks of a divine right to marry, which the official Church cannot take away and, therefore, the law of mandatory celibacy of 1139 has been invalid all along. (Cf. Rev. Dr. Heinz J. Vogels, Celibacy: Gift or Law? pp. 90-91). But then, who would have the honesty and humility to admit, and the courage to declare that the law of mandatory celibacy has been invalid all along? Furthermore, the negative consequences of maintaining the law of mandatory celibacy are horrendous. As the Executive Committee of the International Federation of Married Catholic Priests points out: "...[it] leads to lies, hypocrisy and a double life for many priests; clandestine marriages; priests' illegitimate children who do not know their fathers; often psychological imbalance among pastors of souls; depreciation of women; thousands of priests leaving the official church ministry; loss of credibility for the Church which demands human rights elsewhere, but does not grant them within the Church; depreciation of the Eucharist which is often replaced by a Service of the Word; a striking number of Catholics leaving the Church; the growth of sects." On the contrary, the repeal of the law of mandatory celibacy would be a source of healing, would restore the credibility of the hierarchy, would improve ecumenical relations, and, most important of all, would enable the leadership of the Church to fulfill adequately and responsibly its pastoral service to the People of God. Did you know that there are close to 100 married Anglican/Protestant ministers, now married Roman Catholic priests, serving as married priests in parishes? If married Anglican/Protestant ministers can serve in American parishes as priests, then certainly cradle Catholic priests should be welcomed back to their local parishes to serve in sacramental ministry. It's only fair! Actually, many bishops are in support of married priests, but they need your help and support to convince Rome of the same. Let us be practical. Public action changed Rome's attitude towards the use of altar girls at Mass. Altar girls were once forbidden, but now they are accepted by church law because you, the people, made it happen. Raise your voice in support of married priests! You can change church law. Write to your local bishop and petition for the full reinstatement of married priests in your diocese. |
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