Celibates on celibacy.During the last half-year, two church renewal organizations, Call to Action and FutureChurch, have conducted anonymous surveys of priests in fifty-three U.S. dioceses. Priests were asked: "Do you favor an open discussion of the mandatory-celibacy rule for diocesan priests?" Sixty-seven percent of respondents (2,589 of 3,846) said yes. The survey response rate was 27 percent. Priests aged 41 to 70 most strongly favored open discussion, with 74 percent replying affirmatively. Priests over 71, retired, and religious-order priests also favored discussion by majorities of 61, 66, and 70 percent respectively. But among younger priests (ages 25 to 40), only 42 percent were in favor, while 54 percent were not. More than 547 priest respondents made additional comments, many of which were poignant. A number were discouraged at the apparent inability of church leaders to make necessary changes so that Catholics could continue to have access to the Mass and the sacraments. An Oklahoma priest wrote: "How can our religious leaders prefer that thousands and millions of Catholics have no Sunday Eucharist than to have them attend a Eucharist celebrated by someone who shared his bed legally with a loving spouse?" (Visit www.futurechurch.org for results and comments by diocese.) Survey results are consistent with a 2001 Lilly Endowment Lilly Endowment Inc., headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana is one of the world's largest private philanthropic foundations and is among the ten largest such endowments in the United States. The endowment was founded in 1937 by J. K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J. K. Jr. study by Catholic University professor Dean R. Hoge which found that 56 percent of all priests think celibacy celibacy (sĕl`ĭbəsē), voluntary refusal to enter the married state, with abstinence from sexual activity. It is one of the typically Christian forms of asceticism. should be a matter of personal choice. Surveys of the laity LAITY. Those persons who do not make a part of the clergy. In the United States the division of the people into clergy and laity is not authorized by law, but is, merely conventional. consistently support optional celibacy. American Catholics: Gender, Generation, and Commitment by Professor Hoge and William V William V may refer to:
Office of a spiritual leader expert in the ceremonies of worship and the performance of religious rituals. Though chieftains, kings, and heads of households have sometimes performed priestly functions, in most civilizations the priesthood is a specialized office. at 63, 72, and 71 percent respectively. Lay surveys in 1985 and 1993 also indicated support for ordaining women, at 50 and 64 percent respectively. The surveys are one part of an international campaign to raise the issue of the priest shortage  This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject.Please help recruit one or [ improve this article] yourself. See the talk page for details. at the International Synod on the Eucharist which will be held next year in Rome. Organizers are circulating petitions asking that discussion of mandatory celibacy and of women deacons be placed on the agenda. Christine Schenk, CSJ, is executive director of FutureChurch in Cleveland, Ohio "Cleveland" redirects here. For the Cleveland metropolitan area, see . For other uses, see Cleveland (disambiguation). Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. . |
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