Archived: Should Catholic priests be permitted to marry?

    Reviews of this issue
    8/30/2007 9:50:00 AM

    archived this issue

    8/30/2007 9:50:00 AM

    issue prior to revisions:

    Should Catholic priests be permitted to marry?
    Yes
    No
    No position or position not known.

    8/16/2007 6:01:13 PM

    I've never heard anyone argue that ministers shouldn't be allowed to marry.  Can you scrap up some evidence?  Oh....snap.  Sorry, I'm such a boss man.

    8/16/2007 5:52:05 PM

    i'd rather open it up:

    Should clergy be permitted to marry?

    sub issue:

    Should Catholic priests be permitted to marry?

    by singling out only those priests that CANNOT marry, you are introducing a bias that they should be permitted to marry.  what about the folks that don't think any clergy should marry - even the ministers that ARE allowed to marry ....

    8/15/2007 11:03:13 PM

    Do it

    8/15/2007 7:06:27 PM

    issue prior to revisions:

    Should Catholic Church priests be permitted to marry?
    There is a spiritual reason
    The Church wanted the priests' wealth to pass to the church after death
    No position or position not known.

    8/15/2007 7:05:35 PM

    issue prior to revisions:

    What is the primary historical reason why some Christian denominations forbid priests to marry?
    There is a spiritual reason
    The Church wanted the priests' wealth to pass to the church after death
    Interpretation of scripture
    No position or position not known.

    8/15/2007 3:07:53 PM

    Yeah, I agree with Brian's revision. Who cares what the primary historical reason was? The big question now is should they be allowed to marry.

    8/14/2007 6:15:33 PM

    Should the Catholic Church allow priests to marry?

    ABC News

    The Rev. Michael Sliney, who teaches in northern Virginia, is like a growing number of younger priests -- more conservative than their elders, and generally happy with the rule of priestly celibacy, though he admits it is not always easy.

    "Christ completely fills my heart. I don't feel frustrated, I don't feel like I'm lacking," Sliney said.

    But he added, "It is a sacrifice, I can't deny that. I'm still attracted to women. I'm a normal guy, and it's hard in this culture."
    Poor guy.

    4/5/2007 12:50:53 AM

    The why I don't consider terribly interesting. The "Should They" is the key question. The Why is a piece of trivia that undergirds a larger more important issue.

    3/30/2007 3:48:57 PM

    I completely agree with CGogg.

    3/5/2007 8:35:54 PM

    I wonder if the first stand could possibly be interpreted for something quite similar to the third.  It seems to me that priests and clergy pull much of their spirituality from interpretaions of scripture.  I suppose I could be wrong about this.  But, as I see it, for many lay people, spirituality is not necessarily tied to an interpretation of scripture but for a clergy member, I would think that the basis for their spirituality would be simply an interpretaion of scripture.  I'm just concerned that it would be difficult to pigeonhole evidence indicating that belief into stand one or stand three.  Thoughts?

    12/14/2006 10:12:02 PM

    switch stand #2 for:

    "pecuniary interests"

    12/11/2006 1:12:42 PM

    I think we would need to change the "priest's wealth" answer to something more general.  Little historical evidence refers to the priests having much personal wealth, but rather to church property that a priest/bishop/cardinal might possess as part of his position being inherited by decendents.  Maybe:

    Issues of inheritance.

    Which might also remove the bias inherent in the second answer; I'm sure Nick hadn't intended to imply that the church was acting under purely pecuniary interests and thus bias that negative answer, which should be something a blogger implies in their blog.

    12/8/2006 5:48:34 AM

    issue revision:

    changing "main" to "primary" and adding an option per whicker
    What is the main historical reason why some Christian denominations forbid priests to marry?
    There is a spiritual reason
    The Church wanted the priests' wealth to pass to the church after death

    12/8/2006 5:38:55 AM

    This issue moved from another topic. The original issue can be found here

    12/6/2006 7:25:23 PM

    I agree, Catholicism should have its own sub-topic.  We could put this there along with the approved issues currently under the outdated news topic.

    On this issue, I'm not sure how debatable it is.  This calls for pure speculation about what the "real" reasons were as apposed to the official reasons, which involve the interpretation of scripture--a third option I would suggest for the stands.  All we could really go on are official documents, and that would make short work of the discussion. If you look at a quick rundown of the history, the reasons given always relate to sex being sinful and carnal (see St. Augustine's comment), I can't find anything official to support the monetary/inheritance reason.

    12/6/2006 3:12:57 PM

    We should have a sub topic "Catholicism" and this should go under that.

    12/6/2006 3:09:44 PM

    i posted this in the thread in the mailing list (subscribe at right),

    ...my only real question is whether this belongs in “Christianity” or in some other sub-topic since some Christian sects are permitted to marry. Like, for example, does it belong in “Catholicism”?

    12/3/2006 8:04:58 PM

    I talked to a eucharistic minister and she said there's no doubt it was more of a financial move.  If the priest had a bunch of children than the church takes on a lof of financial burden.  If the priest dies when the kids are still young, then the church owuld have to take care of the family.  Tough love...huh?  

    Does anyone dispute that it's more of a spiritual reason?  I haven't done any research, just want to make sure there is a debate here.  What does Oatney say?  He would have more expertise...