I was constantly pressured, by priests and congregation, to become a priest. It was not my vocation. And it would have meant that I ceased working with Interfaith, Churches Together, and the Simon Community. I knew I would be more receptive if we had the same structures of the Eastern Orthodox Churches. When being ordained to the diaconate, a candidate gets asked whether they intended to get married. If yes, they would only ever be a parish priest, if not, the earthly thrones would call them to as high as Bishops and beyond. It is sad that a vocation, given by the Holy Spirit, is forced on people who are just not the right material to be a celibate. It limits the work of the laity to a great degree. We need to go back to the structures of the Mediaeval Church, where priests were married, with children, but would never be Cardinals or Bishops of any rank.
First Comment. Jesus Saves. God bless the St Paul Seminary.
I was constantly pressured, by priests and congregation, to become a priest. It was not my vocation. And it would have meant that I ceased working with Interfaith, Churches Together, and the Simon Community. I knew I would be more receptive if we had the same structures of the Eastern Orthodox Churches. When being ordained to the diaconate, a candidate gets asked whether they intended to get married. If yes, they would only ever be a parish priest, if not, the earthly thrones would call them to as high as Bishops and beyond.
It is sad that a vocation, given by the Holy Spirit, is forced on people who are just not the right material to be a celibate. It limits the work of the laity to a great degree. We need to go back to the structures of the Mediaeval Church, where priests were married, with children, but would never be Cardinals or Bishops of any rank.