Married Catholic Priests
You aren't likely to hear a great deal about married Roman Catholic priests, but they do exist. First there are the priests who are part of the Eastern Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern Rite, who can be found in places like the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, the Ukraine, and other nations along the border between Western and Eastern Christianity. These churches are under the jurisdiction of the Vatican and they recognize the authority of the pope; however, their practices and traditions are much closer to those of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, and one of those traditions is allowing priests to marry.
They are Roman Catholic priests and many are married - so many, in fact, that some estimates place their number at around 20% of all Roman Catholic priests in the world. This would mean that 20% of all Roman Catholic priests are officially and legally married, even though celibacy continues to be a requirement. But marriage is not limited to priests who are part of the Eastern Catholic Churches - we can also find about 100 Catholic priests in America who are married and who are part of the Western Catholicism that comes to mind when most think of Roman Catholicism.
Why are they married? They got married while serving as priests in other Christian denominations, usually the Anglican or Lutheran churches. If such a priest decides that he would be better off within Roman Catholicism, he can apply to a local bishop, who then submits a special application to the pope, with decisions being made on a case-by-case basis. If accepted, he is certainly not expected to get divorced or otherwise separate from his spouse, so his wife comes right along as well. This exception to the celibacy rule was created on July 22, 1980.
Thus, a current Catholic priest who wants to get married must choose between marriage and the priesthood (even though celibacy isn't an essential feature of being a priest), while a married Lutheran priest can apply to become a Catholic priest and keep his wife - he doesn't have to choose. Naturally, this causes some hard feelings for those Catholic priests who leave the clergy in order to pursue marriage; yet others are hoping that the presence of such married priests will eventually allow priests who have left to marry to eventually return.
They are currently allowed to do some things for the Roman Catholic Church, but not everything - and with the growing shortage of priests in the United States (the number of priests has declined by 17% since the 1960s, even as the Catholic population has increased 38%), the church may be forced to tap this resource. It's a natural conclusion, after all, because they are experienced and many are eager (and there are around 25,000 of them). That, however, will require dropping mandatory celibacy - it doesn't make any sense to require priests to be celibate if they can get around the rule by simply leaving, marrying, and then coming back.
But will the rules change? Definitely not under the reign of Pope John Paul II - his conservative Catholicism would never allow for it. Could his successor make the change? Perhaps - it depends upon just how conservative the successor is and how much influence conservative Catholic organizations are able to exert. John Paul II has taken great efforts to foster and encourage very conservative forces within the Catholic Church, perhaps with an eye towards preserving his legacy even after he has passed on. If he is successful, even a very liberal pope would have difficulty in making changes.
Then there is the fact that world Catholicism is not as liberal as many think. We tend to hear the views of American and European Catholics, both of which tend to be more liberal than conservative. Nevertheless, there are many more Catholics in Latin America, Africa, and Asia; their numbers are growing faster than in the northern hemisphere, while their religiosity tends to be much more conservative and charismatic.
These Catholics aren't as likely to approve of changes like allowing married men or women to become priests. If the the Roman Catholic hierarchy in the Vatican has to choose between maintaining the celibacy requirement and annoying northern Catholics or abandoning celibacy and annoying the much more numerous southern Catholics, which do you think they will end up going with?
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