A priest analyzes

Fr. Martin Fox at Bonfire of the Vanities has posted a list of considerations for those who believe that married priests are the necessary remedy to whatever ails the Church. This is a great post from one who knows the territory and life of a parish priest.

Father points out that divorce is a problem among the Protestant clergy. I recall hearing the late Fr. Al Lauer, the priest who founded Presentation Ministries, saying that he had once been one of the few Catholic priests to attend an ecumenical pastors' conference. He mentioned that many ministers came up to him and told him that they could understand and appreciate Rome's ban on married clergy because of the scandal of divorce and marital problems in their own denominations. This from the mouths of married men...

One of the commenters asks: "My only question about the "viri probati" was, where are all these married men so anxious to serve the church in ordained ministry?" An apt question, indeed.