Word: priesthoods
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...their notable successes in interfaith cooperation, Roman Catholics and Protestants are still separated by knotty doctrinal differences as old as the Reformation. Among the major problems are varying notions of the Eucharist or Lord's Supper, differing concepts of priesthood and ministry, and conflicting definitions of apostolic succession, that essential tie to the Apostles that most Christians see-in various ways-as a necessary mark of an authentic church. By Catholic standards, neither the ministry nor the Eucharist of Protestant churches is valid, and until recently, any hope of unity seemed to lie in Protestant submission to those standards...
Case Investigator Maurice Geary, formerly of St. David's Church in Detroit, is "happy as hell that I'm on the outside." A civil rights militant, he left the priesthood after the archdiocese tried to demote him from his parish assignment to a lesser job. Unlike many former clerics who still regard themselves as priests but inactive ones, Geary has abandoned any sense of the ministry. "I wasn't looking to start my own church," he says. "Why should I light a candle and play games by celebrating the Mass in the basement...
...priests (some married, some not) exercising a sort of freewheeling ministry around the U.S. Writing in John A. O'Brien's recent book, Why Priests Leave, Bianchi argues that "some of us will have to move into a gray zone" the better to try new styles of priesthood, but looks gratefully on his Jesuit past "as a preparation for a new mission." Occasionally, the pull of the past can draw a priest back to the official ministry. Bearings for Re-Establishment found that one priest-client was disgruntled principally because his bishop had refused his many requests for transfer from...
Even some members of the hierarchy have come to accept the departure of their trusted servants with something resembling equanimity. Last month, when Msgr. James M. Murray left the priesthood after 28 years in order to marry, he explained to relatives that he "had entered the church by the front door and was leaving by the front door." Thereupon he mounted the pulpit of St. John the Evangelist Church in San Francisco at noon Mass one Sunday and told his congregation all about his decision. Archbishop Joseph McGucken even made a farewell statement of appreciation for his services...
...Eastern Rite communities in union with Rome have always allowed for married priests (but not monks or bishops). In recent years, moreover, the church has ordained married converts from the Protestant ministry. Theologically, Pope Paul's critics contend that the church has tended to confuse two separate vocations: priesthood and celibacy. Both are considered gifts of God, but why should they always be given to the same person? A vow of chastity may be necessary for the discipline of a religious order, but is it equally essential for the parish ministry? Why should there not be married priests...