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Tag: priesthood

  • Pope Francis Ready to Let Priests Marry?

    The question was originally asked when Pope Francis was first installed as Pontiff: Might this be the man to lead the Church away from a celibate priesthood?

    Pope Francis certainly has tackled some issues that many Catholics have been eager to see addressed, including corruption in the Vatican Bank. And he has spoken about the touchy issue of priesthood celibacy before.

    Again recently, Pope Francis pointed out that there are married priests in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic and Coptic Catholic churches.

    “The door is always open,” he said about the issue, “but we are not talking about it now as the order of the day,”

    Some are finding hope in the fact that Pope Francis is addressing this as a “problem.”

    “The problem certainly exists, but it is not on a large scale,”Pope Francis has said. “It will need time, but the solutions are there and I will find them.”

    It’s not just the rank and file faithful who are keen to see this dealt with. Priests are conflicted about it, as well.

    “Pope Francis is a breath of fresh air,” says one priest. “This is a fascinating time in church history because of him. He’s out there in the sunshine, tackling big issues, dragging the church into the 21st century, on the cover of Time, speaking to the young. Most older priests I know are open to optional celibacy. Look, we accept converted, married Anglican priests. The Eastern Catholic priests can marry. Why not all priests?”

    Proponents of losing the celibacy rule are quick to point out that Saint Peter, considered the First Pope, was married. And many don’t realize that celibacy was optional for priests until the First Lateran Council of 1123.

    In his 2012 book, Pope Francis wrote, “For the moment, I’m in favor of maintaining celibacy, with its pros and cons, because there have been 10 centuries of good experiences rather than failures . … But it is a question of discipline, not faith, and it could change.”

    The pope also wrote about a how a girl captured his heart when he was studying to be a priest. “I could not pray for over a week,” he said, “because when I tried to do so the girl appeared in my head.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Mormon Women Turned Away From All-Men Priesthood Meeting For The Second Time

    Women who were seeking to be ordained into the Mormon priesthood sought tickets to the all-male priesthood meeting, but were turned away. According to some women, they were there to get the attention of the leaders of The Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints.

    Mormons, a religious group is the main branch of the Latter Day Saint movement. They, too, are Christians, but they also have beliefs that are different from Christianity. They also follow the Bible, like Christians. However, they also believe in other scriptures, such as the Book of Mormon.

    Saturday’s session was the 184th Annual General Conference for the Mormons. Over 20,000 men and boys attended the meeting, which was held in a Salt Lake City conference hall.

    Dallin H. Oaks, an LDS apostle, addressed the issue by telling the women that they do have authority of the priesthood. He continued to say that women teachers of the church have the same functions as full-time missionaries. However, he also said that “only men will hold offices in the priesthood,” according to the decreed pattern of the church

    The group of women, known as “Ordain Women,” was already turned down in last year’s conference. Over 500 women showed up last Saturday in hopes of getting access to the meeting.

    Some men who hold the priesthood in the church are fully supportive of the women. Mark Barnes, who is a facilitator of the event, said that their mission is all about equality. He is one of the supporters of the “Ordain Women” and said that treating the women less than the men is not “living up to the full potential of the gospel.”

     

    According to Suzette Smith, an organizer for the “Ordain Women,” they were aiming for their protest to be respectful and peaceful. Their main goal is to be heard by the church and have their concerns and questions addressed.

    With their unsuccessful attempt at getting into the meeting, the “Ordain Women” organizers said that they won’t be trying to get into the meeting at least for the next few years. However, they also said that the unequal treatment of men and women is hurting the faith, and will continue to do so until they are heard by the church.

    Shelly Denison, one of the women who attended the protest said that all she wants is for her voice to be heard. “I had one family member tell me I needed to leave the church because the church would be better off without me,” she said.

    Ordain Women


    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Mormon Women Denied Access To Priesthood Session

    Mormon women seeking ecclesiastical equality were denied entrance to the male-only priesthood meeting of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Saturday evening. The women were looking for unfilled seats at the priesthood meeting in the Church’s semi-annual conference.

    The women, clad in purple according to Reuters, marched from a park in Salt Lake City to Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Square, the global headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

    Ordain Women, the group that facilitated the march, said in its mission statement on its website that “The fundamental tenets of Mormonism support gender equality: God is male and female, father and mother, and all of us can progress to be like them someday. Priesthood, we are taught, is essential to this process. Ordain Women believes women must be ordained in order for our faith to reflect the equity and expansiveness of these teachings.”

    One by one, the women were turned away from the meeting by a church spokesman.

    In a statement late on Saturday, church officials expressed displeasure with the women’s “refusal to accept ushers’ directions and refusing to leave when asked.”

    The church has been firm about their stance on gender equality. In a quote posted on the Facebook page of one of the church leaders, Dallin H. Oaks, he said, “In the eyes of God, whether in the Church or in the family, women and men are equal, with different responsibilities.”

    This echoes the Church’s Family Proclamation to the World, which was issued in 1995 which states that “By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.”

    Men ordained in the priesthood within the Church can perform religious rites, such as baptism, confirmation, among others. Boys are ordained with the priesthood at age twelve and grow in responsibility through the priesthood over time.

    About 200 women participated in the march, though a group spokesman puts the number closer to 500.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Mormon Women Protest All-Male Priesthood

    Mormon Women Protest All-Male Priesthood

    The Salt Lake Tribune reported 130 Mormon women affiliated with the Ordain Women movement were turned away from the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City’s Temple Square on Saturday. As dozens of men edged their way past to enter the male-only meeting, the women were shut out at the door.

    The Ordain Women movement was founded in March 2013, and seeks to add women to the ordained ranks of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which currently only ordains worthy 12-or-older boys.

    The leader of Ordain Women and a Washington, D.C. human rights attorney, Kate Kelly, said “I really started to see a stark contrast between the contributions of men and women in the church… I have faith that we will receive the priesthood that lord will listen to our prayers and that our leaders will be responsive.”

    LDS Church spokeswoman Ruth Todd indicated that the meeting the women should be attending was the Relief Society meeting, which was held last week and was for women only.

    Through a statement to reporters, Todd said “Millions of women in this church do not share the views of this small group that has come and organized this protest today and some of the members feel this is very divisive as well. But even so these are our sisters and we want them in this church and we hope they’ll find the peace and joy we all seek in the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

    But even LDS women are divided on the issue: ABC4-Utah reported that two women showed up to protest the protest. Aubrey Brooks and Heather Reese stood outside Temple Square with signs indicating ordination isn’t required for them to feel equal to their husbands.

    “We love being members of the church… We don’t feel like we’re put down in any way and we’re very happy by the roles that we have,” Reese said.

    Brooks’ and Reeses’ comments echo the sentiment reportedly held by many Mormon women: a 2010 book by Robert Putnam and David Campbell entitled American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us found 90 percent of Mormon women were opposed to female ordination, while only 52 percent of Mormon men were opposed to the idea.

    [Image via the Ordain Women Facebook Page]