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Not being a Roman Catholic I may not be qualified to speak to this issue. But having spent 25 years as a pastor, doing many of the same tasks a priest does, I know that it would be a good thing if priests were allowed to marry.

One of the churches I pastored was across the street from a Roman Catholic church. The priest and I had many contacts with each other. After several years of leading the church, he met a Protestant woman and fell in love with her. In order to marry her, he had to give up his call to ministry. He gave it up and married the woman.

I am thankful that my denomination places no such restriction on its pastors. In fact, the men with whom I shared the seminary experience were encouraged to marry. There are two basic reasons that come to mind.

First, there is no Scriptural injunction against people in ministry marrying. Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law. That means Peter, whom some believe was the first head of the church, had a wife. Paul's discussion about it being better for a person not to have a wife reflects his own preference which was appropriate for his ministry because he spent so much time traveling in the establishment and maintenance of churches across Europe and Asia. Paul admits this is his judgment; "I have no command from the Lord," he says (I Corinthians 7:25). Also, this passage is not directed to people in ministry but to Christians in general. Paul's reasoning was that the time was short (verse 29), and that the intensity of demands on Christians would preclude marriage. However, he says "if you do marry, you have not sinned," (verse 28), and "if he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married" (verse 36).

Second, I know from my pastoral experience how much of a benefit it was for me to have a loving wife to whom I could turn for advice and assistance, especially when dealing with problems faced by the women in my church. Working with my wife to raise our three children also helped me to counsel families that were working through difficulties.

It is my conviction that priests should be free to marry as their Protestant and evangelical counterparts are. It would benefit them and the people to whom they minister, and there is no Scriptural restriction demanding celibacy.

Learn more about this author, Tom Parsons.
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