The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has a new priest. He is married and he has children. The priest is a convert from Lutheranism. He had been a Lutheran minister, converted to Roman Catholicism and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in New Jersey in 1988. His wife recently accepted a position in the Milwaukee area and Archbishop Timothy Dolan has accepted him into the archdiocese.
I have HUGE questions about this situation. I should state that I really feel sorry for this priest. He will continue to be a "lightning rod" for many people, including some church leaders, that believe that the Roman Catholic priesthood should be reserved to single males that practice celibacy. My problem is that, by allowing these exceptional cases where priests can be married, the Vatican is undermining their own doctrinal positions. It is kind of like being "a little bit pregnant". Either the Vatican allows married priests or it doesn't. By allowing for a few priests to be married, the Vatican is obviously stating that marriage is not an impediment to the priesthood. Past arguments included that priests must be celibate so that they can offer their entire lives to God. A practical argument was that a priest could not serve both his family and a parish. Well, the Vatican seems to be practicing the "cafeteria Catholicism" that it claims to disdain - "those things apply in only certain cases and we determine what those cases are".
If the Vatican is going to allow for one married priest, then it should allow for all married priests. Current priests should be allowed to marry. Married men should be accepted into seminaries. There should be no exceptions.
For an article on the married priest in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, go to: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=776571.
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