Concerned Catholic: With the shortage of priests, the bishop has sent us an Ordinariate priest. He is terribly nice and so is his wife, who involves herself in all the parish activities. It has made me think: why can’t our own diocesan priests marry? I am sure that would solve the vocations problem.
Chaplain: It is good to hear of your positive experience with your new priest: the contribution of the Ordinariate to the life of the Catholic Church is much appreciated. Many Ordinariate priests are married. Even before the Ordinariate was established, it had been the practice of the Church over several decades to allow married former Anglican clergy to be ordained and to minister as Catholic priests. In both cases, the Church sees this as a sensible and practical exception to the normal rule of celibacy observed by Catholic priests throughout the Western Church. Nevertheless, the Church shows no sign of a general abolition of her rule of celibacy. As a celibate priest myself, I think this is the right decision. Nor do I think that abolishing celibacy would resolve the vocations shortage – for reasons I will give below.
