The answer to the question of whether priests can marry cannot be unambiguous. This is due to two nuances. Firstly, it depends on which church he belongs to. And secondly, it concerns the degree of his priesthood.
What are clergymen like?
This answer to the question must be known in order to understand whether priests can get married. Priests are divided into three degrees of hierarchy:
- the first of these is the deacon;
- the second is a priest, he is a presbyter;
- the third is a bishop or bishop.
The deacon helps priests and bishops to conduct divine services; he is not entitled to do this on his own. The deacon can belong to both the white and black clergy (to be a monk).
The priest has the right to perform both divine services and sacraments. The exception is only ordination. He may also be a monk.
The duties of the bishop include supervision of the clergy of the diocese, at the head of which he stands, as well as the flock. Another bishop leads the clergy of the temple, monastery. He may have various major government degrees. This is about:
- the patriarch;
- Metropolitan
- Archbishop
- exarch.
A bishop is elected only from among the clergy.
Having determined the degrees of the priesthood, you can find out the answer to the question of whether the priest of the Orthodox Church can marry.
Bishops
Can priests marry in the rank of bishop? The answer to this question is clearly negative. The custom of celibacy in this category began to be perceived as the norm in the second half of the 7th century. This rule was fixed at Trull Cathedral (691-692). Moreover, the last rule applied to those of the bishops who were married before being ordained.
They had previously been separated from their spouses, sending her to a monastery, which was far from his place of worship. The ex-wife had the right to use the content from the bishop. Today, candidates for bishops are elected only from monks who have adopted the small schema (ascetics).
Priesthood One and Two
In Orthodoxy, the entire clergy is divided into two types:
- Black, monastic who gives a vow of chastity.
- White. She may or may not be married.
Therefore, the answer to the question of whether priests of the first and second degrees can marry depends on which of the two species they belong to.
Only those belonging to the white clergy are allowed to marry. But they can do this only before being clothed in a deacon or priestly office. After they started a family, they have the opportunity to take the dignity. Can a priest have children by joining him? Yes, they are allowed to have children.
And if the spouse dies or decides to leave her husband? In such a situation, the clergyman must remain alone. He can either become a monk, or remain in the status of an unmarried priest, but re-marriage is forbidden to him.
There is another form of celibacy of priests, which will be discussed below.
Celibacy
This is a special form of priesthood, following which a person does not become a monk, but at the same time does not belong to the family clergy. After the celibate priest is ordained, he lives alone. This rule was legalized in the western church under Pope Gregory the Great (590-604). But de facto it was established only by the XI century, under Pope Gregory VII. As for the eastern church, celibacy was rejected by the Council of Troll, which was not recognized by Catholics.
Chastity is prescribed by the vow of celibacy, and its violation is regarded as sacrilege. Priests cannot marry or be previously married. After being ordained, one cannot marry either. Thus, among Catholics, despite the existing division into black and white clergy, the vow of celibacy should be observed by all priests.
In our country, celibacy appeared in the late XIX - early XX centuries. The foundation was laid by Archpriest A. Gorsky (1812-1875). He was the rector of the Moscow Theological Academy. At this step, which was completely new to the Russian church, his move was Metropolitan Filaret. He is the author of a treatise devoted to examples of celibate ordinations observed in both ancient and later history. In Russia, celibacy was taken quite rarely, as is happening now.
As for Judaism, there is a sharply negative attitude towards celibacy. First of all, it is based on the precept that is given in the Bible - “Be fruitful and multiply.” Celibacy is also rejected due to the fact that an unmarried man is considered only as half of a human being.