LIVING IN A WORLD OF THEIR OWN MAKING

Ordaining married men to the Catholic priesthood would be a break with Apostolic Tradition, 
Robert Cardinal Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments said.

The Cardinal, who is 72, made these remarks in a homily he gave on Monday at the Mass celebrating the conclusion of the annual Pentecost pilgrimage from the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris to the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Chartres.

“The plan, again advanced by some, to detach celibacy from the Priesthood by conferring the sacrament of Orders on married men (“viri probati”) for, they say, ‘pastoral reasons or necessities,’ would have serious consequences, in fact, to definitively break with the Apostolic Tradition,” he added.

Sarah intimated that ordaining married men would not “perpetuate” the Priesthood of Christ.

While the Catholic Church has allowed married Anglican ministers who have become Catholic to be ordained as Priests, this has been a pastoral concession -- a ridiculous one -- not intended to set a precedent for the Latin Church. 

In the Eastern Church, celibacy is voluntary and must be decided upon and chosen prior to Ordination.  Married Priests in the Eastern Church are not, however, eligible to be Bishops. 

In the dearth of vocations following the Second Vatican Council, Pope Francis has stated that the Church must consider Ordaining married men to the Priesthood.

While dismissing the idea of voluntary celibacy in the priesthood, the Pontiff was open to the option of a married Priesthood in remote areas where the priest shortage is especially serious.

“We have to think about if the viri probati are a possibility,” Pope Francis told German newspaper, Die Zeit. “Then we also have to discern which tasks they can take on, for example, in forlorn communities.”

“There is much talk about voluntary celibacy, especially there where the Clergy is lacking,” the Pope said. “But a voluntary celibacy is not a solution.”

A person with psychosis will have difficulty concentrating, often accompanied by a depressed mood. Suspicious thoughts and withdrawal are common, as are delusions (false beliefs), hallucinations and paranoia.

Far be it from me to suggest that both the Pope and Cardinal Sarah exhibit clinical symptoms of psychosis, but they do seem to be living in a world of their own making when it comes to celibacy and the Priesthood.

Does His Eminence really deny the over 1,200 year tradition of a married Priesthood within the Latin Church?  Does he deny that the Apostolic Fathers were indeed married men?

For a man who claims constantly that the Deposit of Faith (Scripture and Tradition) must be the basis of all Church teaching and practice, the Cardinal glibly denies the overwhelming evidence contained within the New Testament that those who exercised Apostolic authority were indeed married.  

Or has His Eminence simply decided to create a fantasy world in which none of this Biblical evidence exists? Isn’t that a classic example of delusion?  Reality by personal fiat?

As regards the Holy Father, does he really believe that allowing for the Ordination of married men of proven virtue (viri probati) will have no effect upon those who choose the celibate Priesthood?

Does Pope Francis likewise deny the reality that when Ordination of married men has been allowed, such as in the case of the Permanent Diaconate, most of those Ordinations have taken place in the United States, hardly “a forlorn” Church”?

Voluntary celibacy, practiced by the Church during its earliest history, is neither contrary to Apostolic Tradition nor to the Sacrament of Orders itself.  

That's the truth of the matter these Prelates do not seem capable of admitting!

Why do these Prelates deny what has been clearly established to have been the norm -- a married Clergy  -- and hold on to what was the historical aberration -- a celibate Priesthood?

For all their constant calls to trust the Holy Spirit and put ourselves in His Providential care, these Prelates are too afraid (paranoid?) to do so themselves.

A married Priesthood can co-exist in tranquility and harmony with a celibate Priesthood.  

The Eastern Church with whom we share a millenium of history and unity attests to this fact.

Perhaps if the Latin Church would return to the expression of Priesthood as it existed in the Apostolic Tradition, there would be no “forlorn Churches” anywhere in the world suffering for a lack of Priests.

What thinkest you?