… Greek Orthodox priests could get married.
This is a local story for me and I fairly often drive past this church.
If only …
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"It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it." GKC
9 comments
Yup—obviously if this guy had been able to marry, he’d never have had a problem. Nothing wrong there that a little heterosexual outlet wouldn’t cure.
Oh, wait….
(On a more serious note, this guy needs prayer, as does the young man. And the congregation.)
Peace,
–Peter
…Trying to Buy Rights to Teen…”
What?
He tried to pay the mom $300k to give up parental rights so that he could adopt Doe.
Ok, I’m missing the marriage link here. CAN Greek Orthodox priests marry? Was he married? Did it mention marriage anywhere in that article?
I didn’t even know that Greek Orthodox priests were called ‘priests’. It isn’t obvious from the article that this particular case is not the responsibility of the Catholic Church, either, because we are in communion with Eastern Rite Catholics, etc.
Maybe I’m just getting too defensive but it seems to me that this article may have printed as it was just because it could be misconstrued as another Catholic abuse.
From what I remember, a Greek Orthodox priest can be married, as long as the marraige took place before ordination. If he is single and ordained, and I can check on this, he’s to remain celibate. Orthodox bishops, OTOH, must be celibates. I’ll sheck this with my friend at work.
“He tried to pay the mom $300k to give up parental rights so that he could adopt Doe.”
That is the most bizarre thing I’ve ever heard!
Kathryn, you are precisely correct on marriage & ordination in the Orthodox Church (as well as in Eastern Rite Catholic Churches).
Joanne,
Orthodox priests are indeed called priests and are permitted to marry, under the conditions that Kathryn listed.
This case has nothing directly to do with the Catholic Church, as the article clearly states that the parish is “Greek Orthodox.” If it were an Eastern Rite parish, it would have been referred to as such – the word Orthodox with a capital O always implies Eastern Orthodoxy.
Lastly, the point the Jester is making about marriage is that the libs always say that the abuse would go away if our priests could marry, yet it exists in communions where priests can and do marry, so clearly married priests isn’t the solution.
My favorite response when people say that the pedophilia scandals are because of priestly celibacy is this: “Oh, you can’t control yourself? Here, have a woman.” and then ask the person if this sounds like a marriage any sane woman would want to be in. They usually haven’t thought about it this way.
jojosmom, can’t control oneself is one of the legit reason to get married. And it’s biblical (1Cor 7:9).
It appears that Fr. Graff is not married, if you notice the veil on his priestly headgear is indicative of a celibate priest, I could be incorrect on this but its my understanding that the veil is only used by monks and celibate priests.
“Graff lives in Oueens Harbor” … Does any one see the irony in this?? : )