A US archbishop Saturday called on the Catholic Church to allow
married priests of Eastern rites to preach in the West, after Rome
accepted married Anglican priests who converted to Catholicism.
The Vatican has been adamant that married priests of Eastern rites should not work in the West.
Archbishop Cyrille Salim Bustros, head of the Melkite Greek Catholic
Church in the United States which accepts the pope’s authority, told a
news conference his congregation wanted these dispositions to be
changed.
“The incorporation in the Catholic Church of married Anglican priests has created a new situation,” he said.
A papal decree, or motu proprio allows Anglicans unhappy about their
Church’s stance on homosexuality and the ordination of women to join the
Roman Catholic Church, thereby accepting that married priests pursue
their work.
On Tuesday Lebanese Maronite Bishop Guy-Paul Noujaim had told the
press that priests’ marriage had contributed to keeping Christian
churches alive in Muslim-dominated Iraq.
During the current bishops’ meeting in Rome which opened on October
10 and concludes Sunday with a papal mass, several leading Church
figures have defended the possibility for Eastern priests to marry.
SIC: INQ/USA