From EarthTimes – Report: Majority of Catholic priests in Poland want right to marry

Warsaw (dpa) – Sixty per cent of Roman Catholic priests in overwhelmingly Catholic Poland want the right the marry and have families of their own, according to a survey published by Poland’s respected Tygodnik Powszechny (TP) weekly.

As times change and the social status of and respect for the priesthood declines, more and more priests who feel lonely, isolated and misunderstood are considering leaving the priesthood, according to the weekly, which caters for Poland’s Catholic intelligentsia.

“Not everyone can cope with the fact that at the beginning of the 21st century priests are no longer regarded as the priest they knew in their youth,” Jesuit Father and psychologist Jacek Prusak told TP.

But according to an as yet unpublished study, so far only one third of young priests who quit the priesthood do so for the sake of a woman.

“The main reason (for quitting the priesthood ) are existential problems and ideals,” according to the study’s author Professor Jozef Baniak of Poznan’s Adam Mickiewicz university. “A woman, if she appears, is in the background.”

“First there is an crisis of the priest’s identity and then he looks for someone in whom he can confide his problem,” says Baniak.

Vatican statistics quoted by TP also show more and more Polish priest are deciding to quit. Whereas in 1998, some 32 priests left, in 2004 the figure shot up to 57…

Not news because many Polish R.C. priests are ‘married,’ just not in the legal sense. They have women and children, often provided for out of the coffers of the local parish, or in extreme cases, out of the diocese. Scandal erupts only when a priest leaves to do the right thing – that is he legally marries his wife and supports his wife and children. He stands by her as husband and father.

Unfortunately, far too many choose the easy road. Oh, honey, I can’t marry you. Look at my great job, the cars, the money, the clothes, the vacations, the status. But it’s ok, we’ll be together on certain evenings and every other weekend. Tell the kids I do care.

It’s a total fallacy. It’s playing to a man’s base instincts, have fun, don’t commit.

Choosing to leave the R.C. priesthood in Poland puts one at a severe disadvantage. Start with the family pressure, the social pressures in the local community, and the hint of scandal… The women (those who actually hold these men to a higher standard) are poorly regarded in comparison to those who take it and shut-up. In addition, the financial losses alone are huge – another base instinct that must be fought against if the man wishes to do right.

And, by-the-way, it is not the woman’s fault.

The 57 who left are the honest ones, the ones who take their faith seriously. The others who remain, seeking the right to marry, are simply seeking a normalization of what already exists.

These men are having problems with their identity, as Prof. Baniak points out, not because of an inherent disorder, but because the identity they live in is disordered to their natural calling – marriage, a spouse, and children.

As I’ve said before, celibacy is a gift given to some, not a gift that can be demanded of the Holy Spirit. Once the R.C. Church gets beyond demanding that its men ‘receive’ this gift, perhaps the gift will be given more freely.

Faith you know.