On Mondays, I answer questions frequently asked by those considering a return to the Catholic Church. How do I know this stuff? I was away for more than 30 years myself, and am the co-author of When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics, a book for pastors and parish leaders interested in this ministry.
Why can’t priests marry? Peter was married, and so were some of the popes. And my Protestant and non-denominational friends have some terrific pastors who are married—with kids.
Yes, Peter was married. And so are many Eastern Rite Catholic priests. And so are some Latin-Rite priests who converted from other faiths. It’s the Roman Catholic tradition that priests and nuns take a vow of celibacy, which means they will not marry. This vocation, after all, is voluntary; if a person doesn’t want to be celibate, he or she doesn’t have to be a priest or nun. The idea is that like Christ, these men and women are giving themselves entirely to God and his affairs. (Note that men called as deacons may be married at the time they are ordained to this ministry, but should their wives die before they do, are not able to marry without special permission.)
The practice of celibate Roman Catholic priests did not become part of canon law until the twentieth century. It’s not dogma or doctrine, and could change.
