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Show Married Ministers and the Church. . Writing in the "Catholic World" for October the Rev. Louis O'Donovan, D. D., discusses the question whether the Church could not accept married non-Catholic non-Catholic ministers as priests and allow them to retain their wives. The decisions de-cisions of councils which he quotes are most interesting; and from them he decides in the negative. He says: Several months ago fifteen non-Catholic ministers, almost simultaneously, "went over to Rome," and the belief obtains in high places that very many more would soon follow were they, being be-ing married men, allowed to become priests and keep their wives. To them, therefore, if not also to us. it cannot be an uninteresting question whether or not the Church should offer such terms to these "other sheep." And when we recall that not many years ago in England, a minister brought his whole congregation with him when he came into the Catholic Church, one may fancy the proportions that might be assumed by a tidal wave "Romewards" were the dike of priestly celibacy allowed al-lowed to sink before the sea of prospective pros-pective home coming ministers on both sides of the Atlantic. The question is not, of course, whether or not celibacy is to be maintained as a sine qua rjon for the clergy in general. gen-eral. Neither Is it Whether or not converted con-verted ministers shall be allowed to marry after being ordained priests. But whether or not non-Catholic ministers already married may become Catholic priests and continue to live witli their wives. |