was Peter married?

[kimber1]

this is really bothering me. i came across a thread in GA about this and then a friend of mine and i were discussing it last night as well. in Matthew 8:14-15 it speaks of Peter's mother-in-law being healed by Jesus. Okay so then that must mean he was married. and we believe Peter to be the first Pope. and i was always under the assumption that Popes couldn't marry. okay and i realize the teachings of Paul in that a married man's time is divided while an unmarried man's focus is solely on the Lord and i assume that's where the precept of remaining celibate comes from correct? but if Peter (our first Pope) was married then when did it come about that they shouldn't marry?
it says in the CCC 1579 that ministers of the Latin Church are normally chosen from those who live a celibate life and intend to remain celibate.
and then in 1580 it says Eastern Churches have married men as priests.

so i guess my question is, if Peter was married adn we look upon him as the first Pope when did it become the rule (or is it a carved in stone rule) that priests cannot marry?

I'm sooo confused!!!

 

[geocajun]

Many of the Apostles were married. If my history is correct, at the time, if a man was unmarried he was considered half of a man in Jewish culture.
I am not sure the exact date that the discipline of celebacy was placed on the Latin Rite priests, but it is a discipline, not a requirement of the sacrament.
To my knowledge, this discipline is only a requirement of the Latin, or Western rite of the Catholic Church, and all other rites permit their priests to be married, but some only permit celebate men to be bishops.
We do have some exceptions in the Latin rite. We have in my diocese for example, a priest who is an ex Anglican Priest who became Catholic, and was granted a special dispensation to be ordained a Priest while married.

 

[Dominus Fidelis]

Celibacy is not a "carved in stone rule", Kimber. It was not even the rule for the first couple centuries of the Church. It became a rule for practical purposes, but it is still not a Dogma and can be changed.

 

[kimber1]

ah okay! thanks y'all!

 

[Dominus Fidelis]

Anytime...dont let the tricksters get you down.

 

[Christy4Christ]

Kimber,

Hi, I was going through this same thing recently. I was wondering why priests couldn't marry if Peter was married. Here is what I found out. Peter was married indeed. Paul was NOT married and here is what Paul said :

1 Corinthians 7:32-36
The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; but the married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman or girl is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

Also there are some rites within the church where the priests can and do marry. This subject I will leave for someone else as I am not really very well informed on it. I will say that I THINK the Byzantine rites do marry. I hope I am not wrong about that but I may very well be.

Anyway I hope some of this helped. I know that reading Paul's words on marriage helped me understand.


Christy

 

[Polycarp1]

Latin Rite priests and bishops may not marry (but married men can be ordained Deacon). The original reason for this dates back to the early Middle Ages, when much property was placed in Church hands, and venal Priests and Bishops would accrue property given to the Church and then leave the property to their sons, who might not have a valid call to Holy Orders but who had the "cure of souls" for a given parish or diocese as their possession. It was to avoid this simony that the rule was originally put in place. And a married priest must juggle ministry to his parish and to his family as husband and father, so the rule was left in place after its original reason was no longer important, because that "juggling" problem leaves sufficient justification for having it a rule.

The East never practiced this policy, and married men in the Eastern Rites may indeed be ordained Priest (but not Bishop). It is a law of the church, for the Latin Rite only, not a matter of doctrine. (And note that married Anglican priests converting to Catholicism are allowed to remain both priests and in the married state, by special dispensation from that canon law.)

 

[d0c markus]

So, Roman Catholic Priests can get married?

 

[Christy4Christ]

I do believe some can get married but I am waiting for all the experts to post!

 

[KennySe]

Catholic Priests, of the Latin Rite, may not marry.

However, a priest of another faith, who is married, who then converts to Catholicism,; and if he remains a priest (now of the Catholic Church), remains married.

(For as the man and woman have been joined by God, let no man tear asunder.)

******************

Off Topic Edit:

Nuns don't marry.

More specifically, a nun will tell her that her Spouse, is Jesus.

 

[Christy4Christ]

Ok Kenny, I was under the impression that there were certain rites within the church that allowed marriage for priests. Sorry..oops

 

[ProCommunioneFacior]

Christy4Christ,

There are rites that allow priests to marry, that is why Kenny said priests of the latin rite.

The pastor of my parish is married, because he converted from the Episcopal Church, and was already a priest and married, Cardinal Ratzinger gave him the stamp of approval when he converted to Catholicism to continue being a priest.

 

[Christy4Christ]

Ahh I see thank you!