Is it possible to leave the priesthood

Stories from former priests illuminate what happens when they leave the church. According to canon law as laid down in the Catechism of the Catholic Church , when a man takes holy orders, it "confers an indelible spiritual character and cannot be repeated or conferred temporarily. In the real world, however, priests who leave the church generally don't continue their duties.

The church draws a distinction between the inner status of a person and their outward function. A priest's inner "priestliness" can never change, but he can resign from the function of being a priest and be released from his duties.

This can be accomplished in a number of ways, one of which is to simply walk away. The Roman Catholic Church has no legal mechanism to force anyone to work as a priest although authorities can wield significant social pressure. However, the technically correct way is to seek a dispensation from church authorities, releasing the priest from his duties. A laicized priest might be forgiven for thinking that, because he has left the church, he is no longer bound by any of its rules, including the vow of celibacy.

However, from the point of view of the Roman Catholic Church, once that vow is made, it is in effect forever. This means every priest who leaves the church to marry is breaking canon law and breaking his vows. The only way to be released from the vow of celibacy is through a dispensation from the pope. While it is not known how many of these dispensations have been granted since the rule was first made under Pope John Paul II, it is unlikely that there have been more than a handful.

Dan Murtah, a former Catholic priest, wrote in The Guardian about breaking the vow of celibacy after he chose love over the church:. I was Of course it did: being with a partner is a natural part of being human. One of the most challenging aspects of leaving the priesthood is the loss of a strong social network. Priests often come Catholic families, and were once leaders in their church communities, so leaving the priesthood can mean the loss of friends and possibly family support.

However, it can also mean other inconveniences. There is, theoretically, a way for Murtah to marry in a Catholic church: He would need to be older than 40 and require a dispensation from the pope. Such dispensations, however, are rarely granted. Murtah, who as of hasn't received that dispensation, wrote in The Guardian :.

Although we have yet to make a decision. Although thoroughly researched data isn't available, anecdotal evidence suggests that some priests who leave the Roman Catholic Church join various Protestant denominations.

The surface reason for this is obvious: Most Protestant churches don't require celibacy of their clergy. That was the case for the Rev.

He went on to become a practicing Anglican. We had met before in Cologne as year-olds when we were enthusiastic young Catholics on a pilgrimage to see the newly appointed Pope Benedict XVI. During the 10 years that had passed, she had trained as a nurse and got married.

I had become a Catholic priest. When I was ordained I made a promise to the bishop to be celibate for the rest of my life. It was easy to do at the time.

I had trained for six years in an all-male college away from home — and as a heterosexual man, very little temptation came my way. I was so confident about being celibate that I happily discussed it on TV and radio.

The prospect of never having children was daunting, but I was happy to make that sacrifice to become a priest. That evening at the fundraiser we rekindled our friendship to the soundtrack of a tin whistle. I put my foot in it at one point by asking her how her husband was and she informed me she had recently got divorced.

She was confident, funny and easy to talk to — the same qualities that had attracted me to her a decade ago in Germany. Why does the bishop allow this? It was the beginning of my disillusionment with the priesthood. My bishop could be best described as a miser. During his twenty-five year administration, he socked away millions of dollars for the diocese, but when asked for anything involving a financial expenditure, he acted as if you were asking him for one of his kidneys.

He made sure his priests were kept poor. The pastor, however, was a nice guy and treated me well enough; nonetheless, this forced living arrangement for grown men made me feel like a child. Having ministerial supervision as a young priest made sense, but the presumption that I needed supervision in my living arrangement was an intrusion into my personal life.

It presumed an enmeshment with the church with which I never felt comfortable. Even as a senior pastor in a large congregation, being forced to live in a rectory was demeaning, giving me the impression that I was not trusted.

Perhaps the real issue is that the Catholic Church presumes to own its priests, like masters who own their slaves. This is part of the infrastructure that priests are expected to embrace. Priests are reluctant to complain because, at this point, they have prostrated themselves on the floor in front of their bishops in diocesan cathedrals and monasteries and professed obedience to him as they would to God himself.

All of this has been carefully orchestrated by the hierarchy over centuries to make sure priests understand that they are but pawns in the hands of their bishops, who claim to wield the power of God himself. When you are owned sexually, you are owned at the deepest part of your being. While in the priesthood, I helped conduct a few retreats for priests in various parts of the United States.

This was long before I had awakened. It shows that the priest is an extension of his bishop in whatever ministry he serves in the diocese. It is very clear that priests have no identity or ministry apart from their bishops. Most priests have heard horror stories from parochial vicars who have had to deal with pastors who were veritable tyrants.

It was not uncommon for them to be barred from the kitchen except during dining hours. Locks were put on refrigerators. Some vicars were locked out of the rectory after the curfew hour of, say, PM. The Christmas collection, which should have been divided equally among the priests in the parish, went entirely to the pastor, who managed to toss a few crumbs to the vicars.

Sadly this nonsense still continues in some places. One counselor states:. In my daily dealings with clergy, especially younger clergy, celibacy is NOT usually why they consider leaving.

It is often unreasonable bishops or the outmoded rectory life and all that goes with it that concerns them. Dealing with older unreasonable pastors who force them to live by their rules. They are told where to stay, how to act, what to eat, everything! Financial concerns are also a major issue. And so the drama continues. Comments from others would be welcomed.

Of course, confidentiality and anonymity will be maintained. Pastors have it much better than the lowly parochial vicar. Pastors of large parishes have it even better, their salary nicely supplemented by more stipends, larger Christmas collections, and other perks.

My experience as a parochial vicar did end on a happier note. After that miserly bishop retired, he was replaced by one with a much appreciated understanding of the Second Vatican Council; under his leadership the diocese moved forward, though still not nearly far enough in my estimation.

Priests who awaken to realize how far the Church has intruded into their personal lives often find themselves frustrated. In time, many of them discover the freedom to live their lives in a way they feel called by God, which means that they must leave the priesthood.

Is this selfish? Is it sinful? Their journey in, through and with Christ will continue, albeit on a different path than the one prescribed for them by the hierarchy and its medieval institution. Many active priests understand how they are being oppressed but choose to stay and work for reform from within the system. Our prayers and encouragement are with them too. Another transition priest shares experiences that led him out of the priesthood:. Though the proximate cause of my leaving the priesthood was an ultimatum from the bishop to either abandon my lover or not return to ministry, with hindsight I now can see other reasons that influenced my departure.

These reasons would have themselves been enough to leave if I would have had the courage to do so. Difficulties in these matters go back, at least, into the second decade of my priesthood.

Had push come to shove then, I would probably have been forcibly defrocked as a heretic and an insubordinate, had I spoken honestly about what I believed. Some of this concerned practice, but there were also issues in matters of faith. In its history, there are examples of the Church changing its teaching on certain issues. For example, up until the 16th century, it taught, based on Lev.

Galileo was sentenced, as a heretic, to house arrest for life for holding that the earth revolved around the sun, whereas the Bible explicitly states otherwise. Nor could I accept the teaching that sexual sin, for example, willfully enjoying the sensation of sexual arousal, even for just a moment, is always mortal sin, deserving of eternal damnation.

But the clincher is that, in the face of these glaring contradictions, the church has declared itself infallible, that is, never capable of an error in matters of faith and morals.

Well, folks, if I remember my study of logic correctly, all that is needed to disprove a universal statement like the claim to infallibility is to cite a single case or incident in which it doesn't hold. That having been done, I find the doctrine of infallibility to be disproven and unable to prevent me from legitimately doubting or even denying something that the church teaches, if I have good reason to do so.

My first obligation is to be a person of integrity, true to myself and my conscience, as the Church itself teaches. And other teachings, indeed, are being called into question. I no longer believe in original sin, purgatory and indulgences!

When such fables are interpreted as factual history, we are in big trouble! What is needed is a basic revision of our biblical interpretations—reading the Bible as it stands, full of metaphor and adaptation of its story lines, and not as literal and factual history. When we do, a very different picture emerges! I can empathize with men who leave the priesthood because they have such doubts of faith. Sometimes I wish I would have left because of my conflict with Church teachings, practices and dogmas, rather than for the simple reason of having a lover.

Return to the top of this page. Leaving the Priesthood print friendly. Lessons Learned from Leaving. There are 41, Diocesan and Religious priests in the United States today.

During the past 60 years 25, priests have left the priesthood in the United States and over , priests worldwide have left. A Priest Forever. Roman Catholic Womenpriests. Future Church. Federation of Christian Ministries. Order of Franciscans Ecumenical. From the Rectory. Covid 19 - Time for more.

America was broadsided by this deadly pandemic. It seems so medieval like the plagues of the 14th century. The populations of whole towns were wiped out, and it was said that the living spent most of their time burying the dead in mass graves. Some Christians, in search of a scapegoat, blamed it on Jews and launched bloody massacres.

The Black Death subsided around , but not before it killed as many as 50 million people—more than half the population of Europe. Today there is a kind of hush falling over the world as we see how vulnerable we all are.

Rugged individualism is no match for our present day plague. Our politics reflects our inability to cooperate. Truth be told, the beneficiaries of capitalism are primarily corporations and the wealthy.

What do the US postal service, public utilities, public education, public libraries, the highway department, Medicare and Medicaid, the military, fire department, police services, public transportation, environmental regulations and Social Security have in common? Without this awakening, I fear for our future. It is obvious that he would rather be a dictator and has been using his power to weaken the pillars of our democracy.

Friends, we are standing at a pivotal time in American history. Our survival depends on it. Previous Articles:. From a God of Violence to the Prince of Peace. A Little Taste of Hell. The Death of Christendom. Today's Demons. The Scandal of Grace. The Jesus Line. The Christian Revolution. The Problem With Fear. Finding Unity in the Midst of Fragmentation.

Non-Violent Communication. The Rewards of Vulnerability. Be Not Afraid. December Darkness. America the Beautiful. Taming the Tongue. Burial Practices. Waiting for Our Souls to Catch Up. What's Ailing Islam? Enough of the Gloom. A Reason for Hope. Contemplating Mortality. The Illusion of the Separate Self. Nicodemus and a New Consciousness. Discharging Your Loyal Soldier. The Monkey Mind. Is Your Church A Sanctuary? Hating the Poor but Loving Jesus? The Bible's Violent God. So how is it that some priests get permission to leave the priesthood and get married?

There is a delicate distinction that must be made between the metaphysical fact that a man is always a priest once he has been ordained, and the canonical status of a laicized priest. And as we have seen so many times before, canon law is in complete accord with theology on this subject. Like the sacrament of Baptism, it can never be erased—a baptized Christian can cease to practice his faith, and even publicly deny Christ, but he can never undo his baptism.

Priestly ordination works in exactly the same way. Similarly, canon of the Code of Canon Law states bluntly that once a man validly receives sacred ordination, the sacrament never becomes invalid. As David says in his question, once a priest, always a priest.

A cleric can never become a layman again. At the same time, however, it is possible for a priest to be released from the duties and responsibilities that are connected to the clerical state CCC Practically speaking, this would mean that a priest no longer functioned outwardly as a priest.

To the world he would appear to be a layman, working at an ordinary job and living the normal life of the laity. Common parlance calls it laicization. Why would a priest lose the clerical state? It can be imposed upon him, as the most serious penalty for a priest who has committed an ecclesiastical crime, but that does not take place very often—nor should it.

Ordinarily, it happens because a priest voluntarily requests it. For any number of reasons, he may conclude that he cannot continue living the life of a priest. When this occurs, and a priest is released from the clerical state, he is still technically a priest, but as canon notes, he may no longer exercise the power of orders. Since this is what the priest is requesting anyway, there is usually little fear that he will violate this restriction.