Catholic Nun And Priest Staying Married
In Germany, a husband and wife is making headlines. The husband of the pair recently became a priest. His wife has been a nun for a few years. The still-married couple required papal dispensation for their new life paths.
Making vows for Harm and Edeltraut Klueting
In 1977, Harm and Edeltraut Kluting got married. They were Lutherans at this time. The pair had two children and served the Lutheran church as clerics. After their children had grown up; the couple became Catholic. In 2004, Edeltraut received papal dispensation to take vows as a Carmelite nun and remain married to Harm. Harm got dispensation to be a Catholic priest also. The husband and wife are remaining married while serving in their individual church posts.
Catholic priests are often married
A single man that is celibate is the image of “Catholic priest” that usually comes to mind. A ruling by Pope Piux XII in 1950 allowed married priests of other Christian denominations to convert to the Catholic religion, stay married and become Catholic priests. Eastern Bloc countries have more married priests than any other. The church knows about these 5 to 10 percent of priests that serve this way.
The celibacy issue
Being celibate and unmarried are both requirements in the Catholic church for nuns and priests traditionally. With a pope dispensation though, the church makes exceptions to married couples. Many are questioning the Catholic church though since there have been less men and women willing to take the vows. Past year, a new conversion program was started by the catholic church. This was done so that Anglican priests and bishops would be able to convert to Roman Catholic with ease. You will find certain Catholic sects that allow married priests and female priests, however the mainstream Roman Catholic church has not indicated it’s ready to consider the possibility.
Information from
The Star
thestar.com/printarticle/942850
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