Thursday, November 12, 2009

The Celibacy issue

There is a general assumption that if priestly celibacy becomes the norm in the Anglican Ordinariates then they will experience a problem with vocations.

This argument is based on two assumptions:

1. The Anglicans and Eastern Churches are right about celibacy.

2. That celibacy rule is what caused the vocation crisis.

The first is an issue I will leave to another time but the second is clearly false because the Latin Church is not finding it difficult to recruit priests where the seminaries are orthodox and the faithful are praying for vocations (usually in perpetual adoration chapels).
The traditionalist groups (dedicated to celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass) like FSSP (Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter) and the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP) for example have a two-year waiting list.
A few diocese in the US also have seminaries that are full or nearly full. In some cases the problem is where to find more space for the seminarians. Lincoln, Nebraska is an example.
In Australia, Cardinal Pell reformed the seminary in Sydney and now it is full. See Story One and Story Two
Celibacy is not the problem, orthodoxy in the seminaries is.

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