An
Open Letter to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on Freeing Celibacy
From
the Married Priests Now! Prelature
November
4, 2006
Your Holiness,
The Archbishops, Bishops and Priests of the Married Priests Now! Prelature send their cordial greetings to you and to the Cardinals, Archbishops and Bishops of the Church.
As
you know, the Church throughout the world is in dire straits because of
the shortage of priests. Churches
are closing, priests are serving two and three parishes, the Mass and the
Eucharist is not available to hundreds of thousands of Catholics.
Lay men and women are being appointed as canonical pastors of
parishes. The Church-at-Large has become a
In the face of this crisis, there are 150,000 married priests who are ready and willing to serve. And there are married men who have prepared themselves for ordination who can also be called to the priesthood. Some of them are currently married deacons but others have never been ordained at all.
The Married Priests Now! Prelature with its archbishops, bishops and priests considers itself to be a Roman Catholic Personal Prelature in Communion with your Holiness and is part of the Roman Catholic Church. We are Roman Catholic bishops and do not want to fracture the Communion of the Church. Our cause is great because it is for the survival of the Church. We are mature adults, not children, so threats, penalties and punishments are out of place in our conversation and will not work. What will work is an honest discussion about the married priesthood of the New Testament and of the primitive Church. The faithful are already reaching out daily to married priests for weddings, baptisms and funerals on a continuing basis. It is time to free the priesthood from the obligation of celibacy.
This is what needs to be done without delay:
1. Married priests and married bishops need to be immediately but gradually reinstated into the fabric of our Church. A vicariate or prelature can be established for married priests (and there was a precedent for this in progress under John Paul II) or they can be recalled through our Married Priests Now! Prelature, or recalled by the local bishops. All penalties need to be waived.
2. Married deacons who are trained in theology and ministry ought to be ordained to the priesthood within a year or two.
3. Married men who are not ordained need to be welcomed into the seminaries or other training programs for the priesthood within the year.
4. Married priests should be able to serve in full time positions with salary, health care plans and pensions or in part time positions. Credit towards pensions should be given for past service to the Church.
5. Marriage is a sacrament of the Church. It cannot be said that celibacy is higher or greater than the sacrament of marriage. Marriage is the higher calling and is more difficult than celibacy because it is naturally centered on the spouse and children. Marriage creates great holiness in the husband and wife and in the family. Married Priests families are a model of the Christian family for the other families in the parish.
Marriage does not diminish the priest’s dedication to Christ but enhances it.
6. We wish to keep the avenues of communication and contact with you open, Your Holiness, and with the other bishops for our Married Priests Now! Prelature.
The priests and bishops of the Married Priests Now! Prelature stand ready and willing to work with you. The Faithful of the Church are now already reaching out to married priests in an enormous way. A new Catholic Church is forming with or without your blessing. There is great urgency in this matter. If you sanction this approach to reinstating married priests and bishops, you will be preserving the unity of the church. The right time is now.
We ask your cordial blessing on all married priests and bishops.
With filial love and devotion,
Emmanuel Milingo
Peter Paul Brennan
Joseph J. Gouthro
Patrick E. Trujillo
George Augustus Stallings
Roman Catholic Archbishops
The Married Priests Now! Prelature
