Sometimes I can’t help myself: when I see an error in reporting about Catholic matters, I feel I must correct it. Here is a case in point:

In the Omaha Catholic Examiner ^[1], Todd van Kampen writes,

If there were a Top 10 list of Catholic cultural touchstones, surely “Catholic priests can’t get married” would be listed somewhere in the top five (if not No. 1). But did you know that it isn’t always true?

He then goes on to give an example of a former Protestant minister (who is married) who was recently ordained a Catholic priest under the Pastoral Provision of JPII that allows such things. He also mentions (correctly) that married men can be ordained Eastern Catholic priests.

So what’s wrong with the article? (Ten points if you already picked it out)

A Catholic priest cannot “get married.” What can happen in extraordinary cases is that a married man can be ordained a Catholic priest. Even in his article, Mr. van Kampen notes that if a married priest is widowed, he cannot remarry. This has been the ancient practice of the Church in both East and West: although married men can be ordained priests in the East and in exceptional cases in the West, no priest – either in the East or West – can get married.

This discipline (and it is a discipline, not a dogma) is a wise one. Can you imagine the issues that could arise from a priest being “available”? What if they started dating someone who went to confession to them in the past? What if multiple women in a parish were interested in an “eligible” priest? No thanks.