In this whole question of an optional, married priesthood, the forgotten entities are the tens of thousands of priests who received papal dispensations over the years, received the Sacrament of Matrimony, had children, worked in the secular job market, and are now gainfully employed or comfortably retired with all or most of their children "out of the nest". The question here is: how many would be willing to return to clerical ministry (if permitted) and work for no salary, or a very small stipend??? If a survey were taken on this subject it may surprise us all how many more "good" priests would be willing to be reinstated to the clerical ranks almost immediately.

My own faith experience teaches me that no matter how hard I pray for something if it is not God's will, I need to embrace the "No" and move on. It was a hard lesson. I fear for the Church because of its inability to recognize that perhaps the Holy Spirit is trying to guide the Church in another direction -- one that will allow Her to more fully guide, and serve as a example for, the real Church -- that is the people of the Church (and beyond). In this regard, then perhaps our desperate prayers for an increase in vocations goes largely unanswered in a meaningful way because the Holy Spirit is trying to give Church leaders the wisdom and judgment to move in the direction it must go if it is to be disciples for Christ to the ends of the Earth in a world far different from 2000 years ago. In short, perhaps the Holy Spirit is trying to tell Church leaders that we are ready to accept a priesthood that is more inclusive and that provides a shining example of how to integrate faith, devotion, with a Christian/Catholic family life. We only hear how families would distract from the priesthood without acknowledging the strength a priest would gain from having a wife to support his work and family living out Catholic values. We claim to hold marriage and the family sacred yet we decry it as a burden. So let us strengthen the priesthood, and increase its numbers, by giving our priests the opportunity to make a prayerful choice about celibacy.

Married deacons are ordained and more are being formed in US dioceses. Possibly 30,000 deacons are serving in the USA at this time. The ordained married clergy are a reality. The problem with an ordained married priesthood is not ordination, sacrament, thelogy, or precident (remember Peter's mother-in-law) but a financial issue.

The catholic church is not ready nor willing to pay a fair and just wage that will support a family. Other christian churches provide parsonages or a housing stipend in addition to a fair salary to their clergy. A methodist minister friend also receieves support for his son's college tuition. Retirement, disability insurance and health coverage for the family is also part of the "compensation package". He feels supported in his calling to ministry AND marriage. This is a church that supports a very powerful "PRO-LIFE" agenda in that it pays the costs of having AND raising children.

Now, back to deacons. Candidates are asked to prove their ability to pay their own way after ordination. Deacons are rarely paid. They have agreements to serve 10, 15, even 25 hours per week as volunteers. Training is often at their personal expense.

As a parallel I see the married priesthood as limited primarily by dollars and cents. A priest shortage would not be evident if there were opennings for married men, paid a just wage. There are similarities between the priest and the volunteer deacon's situation.