(2007-01-02)
By Louise Haggett

Letter to the Editor,
Civilita Catolica ( NO H)
In response to your article with statistics regarding priests who leave, I believe the following will be of interest.

Dispensation Requests Treated Differently by Different Popes

Brunswick, ME, November 15, 2006--The Vatican recently announced that a summit meeting would take place on Thursday, November 16, in part to "examine requests for dispensation made by priests wishing to marry." According to a December, 1998 study conducted by the Center for the Study of Religious Issues (CSRI99@aol.com) in conjunction with CITI Ministries/rentapriest.com, 85% of applications for dispensations from the clerical state submitted prior to the papacy of John Paul II were granted within one year.

After John Paul II became Pope, with Joseph Cardinal Radzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, only 10% of the dispensations were granted within the same time frame; 71.4% took 6 to 10 years; and some were still waiting after 17 years. The Vatican told one married priest that his dispensation would be granted only when he was on his "death bed."

During Paul VI's papacy, 79% of the 250 survey respondents applied for dispensation. After John Paul II became Pope, however, the number dropped to 39%; 61% said they "didn't bother."

Like the annulment process for divorced Catholics, dispensation for priests who marry allows them to receive the sacraments of the Catholic Church: being able to marry in the Church and to receive Holy Communion. For some married priests, to be able to remain in "good standing" with the institution is important; for others, however, having to admit they never had a calling to the priesthood an admission they must make on their application is something they refuse to do as a matter of conscience, no matter what the consequences might be. Some priests maintained in the survey that "since God and not the Vatican called them to the priesthood, they have no responsibility for petitioning the Pope for dispensation." (Canon Law #290 affirms that once ordained a priest remains a priest forever.)

Priests who leave clerical ministry in order to marry also lose their licensing to perform marriage ceremonies, the reason they join and become certified by organizations like CITI Ministries, Inc. (Celibacy Is the Issue). Through CITI's religious society, the Society of Christ Priesthood, priests can regain an ecclesiastical endorsement and continue the ministry to which they were called. CITI certified priests provide non-judgmental sacramental ministry to all through a free referral service, www.rentapriest.com