As posted at Rorate Caeli in Cardinal Etchegaray: The issue of the ordination of married men “may come about” and linked to by the Young Fogey – by the way, his comment on the posting is knowledgeable, balanced, and respectful.

It is unfortunate that so many, who claim some kind of knowledge of the Church, reduce these discussions to mindless ranting based on the perception of a race (in this case the French), a particular clergyman, or their deeply held conviction that unless everything stays as is (the man made disciplines of the Church) the world and Church will fall apart.

That argument has proven false by the mere fact that the Orthodox, the PNCC, and so many other Catholic as well as Protestant Churches can support a priest/minister and his family, not extravagantly, but modestly, and in keeping with the norms of the local community.

As the Young Fogey pointed out, no one goes into the ministry expecting to be rich (success “Gospel” evangelicals and princely priests not withstanding) or to live luxuriously. They are there to minister, to bring God’s grace through sacramental and pastoral action.

Neither the Holy Priesthood nor the Church will disintegrate if the local priest marries.

If you truly think that, you have lost faith in the promises of Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Church, or you never believed in that in the first place.

Oh, and on the Bishop of Rome solemnly confirming something, great for his diocese, but within the Roman Catholic understanding, did it rise to the level of an ex-cathedera statement proclaimed infallibly? I bet that a lot of folks would argue that it didn’t, and that only those wishing to see it as such see it that way.