U.S. Shortage of Catholic Priests

Los Angeles Archbishop Roger Mahony’s comments suggesting that a married clergy in the Catholic Church would mean a “total revamping . . . It would be a completely different kind of pastoral service” were not surprising (Part I, March 1-2). He sounds like a man threatened by such a prospect. And well he should be. Optional celibacy is a threat to the present system of church governance. It is a patriarchal and authoritarian system opposed to any dialogue on celibacy because it is a challenge to the entire way the church presently operates.

His comment that “lots of lay Catholics have never thought that through,” referring to the consequences of a married clergy, is regrettable. As always, the institutional church knows what is best for the flock as they really can’t think for themselves. Lay Catholics know very well that mandatory celibacy has deprived them and continues to deprive them of the Eucharist and leadership they are entitled to. How many priestless Sundays will Catholics throughout the world have to endure before the rules are changed about who gets into the priesthood?

Let me add some further statistics to your articles. There are 19,500 U.S. parishes; 1 in 10 has no priest. 157,000 of 365,000 Catholic parishes in the world (that’s 43%) do not have a priest. Lay Catholics are not concerned, as is Archbishop Mahony, about what a married clergy would mean for the institutional church. They are more taken up with the quality of the ministry they receive and not with whether the minister is married or celibate.

I am one of 17,000 married priests in the United States who resigned since the mid-1960s. Many of us are willing and ready to serve again along side our celibate brothers. My enthusiasm for the ministry and a desire to serve God’s people still is alive in me. The only barrier is my marriage, which I believe only enhances my priesthood. Let the word go out that there is a shortage of celibates, not a shortage of priests.

PHILIP A. McGOVERN

Placentia