Petition for Optional Married ClergyWe call on the Catholic Church and other religions to stop taking any promises or vows of celibacy, and to declare that priests, brothers, and nuns are free to be married: 1. To give Church workers normal family rights, and to relieve them from much loneliness, temptation to sin, and deflection, 2. For the safety of children and others, 3. To save religions millions in money, 4. To reinstate RC clergy lost through marriage, 5. To staff clergy-less parishes, and 6. To give good example in cultures turning away from marriage and towards concubinage. Having a career and marriage before ordination would be usual, thus removing a barrier to dismissing unsuitable clerics. We are mindful of support for marriage (i) In the centuries-old practice of most branches of Christianity and cognate faiths, (ii) By the clergy's continued rights in the Orthodox Churches and Catholic Eastern Rites, (iii) By Rome ordaining married clergy converts, and (iv) In the Bible: Matthew 19:5, Mark 10:6-7, 1 Corinthians 7:2-5, 7:10-11, and 9:5, 1 Timothy 3:2-7, and Titus 1: 5-9. Canon Law confirms the ancient right of laypeople to "make their views known about matters which concern the good of the Church." |
By courtesy: Call to Action, USA, and www.futurechurch.org |