Married Priests in the Catholic Church Adam A. J. DeVille (Edited by)

 Although most priests were probably married between the sixth and tenth centuries, the practice of celibacy started to spread during the Early Middle Ages, and marriage of clergy was finally banned. However, the Orthodox priests still married, and it is also a tradition in the Latin Catholic churches for priests to marry. However, it has often been forbidden for priests in the Latin churches to be married in Canada and the USA. Celibacy of priests was usually regarded as part of ecclesiastical law but more recently it has been argued that it is ontological.

The essays in this book present a powerful argument for priests to be married. The priests who write here come from many different backgrounds and go through all the Biblical and practical reasons for priests to be married. Some essays are quite academic and theological. I found the easiest to understand were by those who wrote about the Anglican tradition. The involvement of the vicar's wife in the community probably used to be greater than it is today, but it still plays a big part in Anglican parishes, I should think. 

I don't have any objection to married priests, but this book certainly strengthened my views on the matter.

I received this free ebook from Edelweiss.plus in return for an honest review.