Venice, FL Diocese Comments
In the case of ministers coming from another religion (denomination)“no”.
Thanks for all you do for all of us.
I have two comments. You talk about the beauty of the Church, and that priests should have the opportunity to express their opinion on priestly celibacy. As I see it the beauty of the church comes from the power of Jesus and his sacramental actions within 2000 yrs. When I decided to become a priest I made an informed decision. Hopefully both of you made in informed decision when you decided to get married and I hope you decide to remain faithful to that decision. That’s what I plan on doing with my decision. If Jesus could sacrifice his life on the cross for us, surely we can make some sacrifice for him.
Any discussion is irrelevant for those who are already priests and have voluntarily accepted the permanent vow of celibacy. It is only relevant for future priests who have not yet made the lifetime commitment of the vow of celibacy.
I have returned to you my copy of the survey, and thank you for undertaking this task. I recognize how hard you tried to make the survey anonymous and appreciate the work you put into that effort. But I do think the sooner we get rid of our attachment to anonymity and secrecy in our church the better off we will be. We are asking the bishops to be more open and transparent in their administrations and priests should be, too. I believe the priests in Milwaukee and other dioceses that have spoken up are publicly standing behind their requests for open discussions on the mandatory celibacy issue. I hope we will have the opportunity to do so when the time comes.
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