Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and beginning April 20th, 2021 (Eastern Time) the Yahoo Answers website will be in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.

Help with Maronite rite in Catholicism?

Can Maronite priest get married and still keep working as a man of God? is it permited within their own rite. please HELP, I am questioning my own faith. I hope someone can help me... I am Roman Catholic and of course in our rite the priest are forbidden to marry. but the Maronite rite from Lebanon and middle east is different. I am trying to learn an expand my horizons.

4 Answers

Relevance
  • 9 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    In the Maronite Rite, a married man can become a priest but a priest cannot get married. It's the same as for deacons in the Latin Rite.

    Source(s): There is a Maronite Church in B'ham. Al. That I've taken a tour of and the priest giving the tour told us about some of the differences between the Maronite and Latin rites
  • 9 years ago

    Actually priests are not "forbidden" to marry - they make the choice not to marry. It is possible for a married to become a Maronite priest (or other Eastern Catholic rite), but if he was single when he became a priest he would have taken a vow of celibacy and so he could not get married after being a priest. It is possible for a priest (in any Catholic rite) to petition the Vatican to be released from their vow of celibacy get married.in the church. Married men can become deacons in all Catholic rites.

    The Catholic Church views priesthood differently than how other Christian faiths view pastors/ministers.

    Being a priest is not a job or a career - it's a vocation. Some people are called to serve God and His church as a celibate priest. If you're not. Others are called to as a married man. And still others are called to serve as a single man. One vocation is not more holy than the other - they're different roles people are called to.

    A priest receives the Sacrament of Holy Orders when they are ordained. This places an indelible priestly character on his soul. Just like in baptism your soul is marked as a child of God - even if you no longer practice Catholicism, that mark is still on your soul. Once one receives a sacrament - it can't be taken away. Which is why there is no divorce in the Catholic Church either - you can't end a sacrament. So even if a priest is released from his vow of celibacy, he has still has that indelible priestly character on his soul. And there are only the most extreme circumstances where he can practice his priestly role licitly.

    Holy Orders is a sacrament that a man should not leave. (Unlike Protestant pastors who can). And Marriage is a sacrament so divorce is not allowed. (Unlike some other Protestant denominations). Given this understanding of the Catholic priesthood - it makes a lot of sense to ask men to make a determination of what they're called to do and in only rare cases allow them both.

  • 9 years ago

    In the Marion rite, a priest can be married IF and ONLY IF he marries before his ordination.

    To put it another way, a married man can become a priest in the Marion rite (and in the Melkite rite and in several other Catholic rites from the East), but a Marion priest who is single cannot get married.

    Source(s): I wrote an article about Melkites for my local Catholic newspaper.
  • Owl
    Lv 6
    9 years ago

    No. Throughout the Catholic Church, married men may be ordained, but ordained men may not marry.

    "In the East as in the West a man who has already received the sacrament of Holy Orders can no longer marry." (CCC 1580)

    http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/cate...

Still have questions? Get your answers by asking now.