Can a priest be married and have children?

In the Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodoxy, celibacy is the norm for bishops; married men may be ordained to the priesthood, but even married priests whose wives pre-decease them are not allowed to remarry after ordination.

Can a married man be a Catholic priest?

Throughout the Catholic Church, East as well as West, a priest may not marry. In the Eastern Catholic Churches, a married priest is one who married before being ordained. The Catholic Church considers the law of clerical celibacy to be not a doctrine, but a discipline.

What happens when a priest fathers a child?

The document requests that a cleric who has fathered a child leaves the priesthood to “assume his responsibilities as a parent by devoting himself exclusively to the child”. The document adds: “A priest, as any new father, should face up to his responsibilities – personal, legal, moral and financial.

Can a formerly married man become a priest?

Currently, the Vatican allows married men to become priests in Eastern rite churches. Eager to include converts, it has also allowed married Anglicans to remain priests when they join the Roman Catholic Church.

Why can’t priests marry?

Thus, properly speaking, priests have never been allowed to marry. Married men have been and still are allowed to become priests, provided that they belong to a tradition within the Church that allows for married clergy. The Eastern rites and the new Anglican personal ordinariates are within such traditions; the Roman rite is not.

Can a man with children become a priest?

Men with adult children can be priests. I t’s men with young children who cannot. The reason is simple: Children need parents to raise them. Once the child is no longer a dependent, then that barrier falls. Note that no priest, with or without children, can be married (or female).

Are priests required to be celibate?

All priests in this religion are required to be celibate. As long as the man with children was not married, he can still be a priest. One exception is if you came from a different religion where you can be a married priest, but decide to become Catholic.

Are there any married men in the Catholic Church?

Further, in the Latin rite there are a few married men, converted ministers from other faiths, who are ordained to the Catholic priesthood. This, however, is not common.