Pope Permits Married Father To Become Priest

This is the first time in almost a century that such an exemption has been issued.

[Wissam] Akiki was ordained in St. Raymond’s Maronite Cathedral in St. Louis Thursday night with his wife and 8-year-old daughter by his side.

The Vatican banned this exemption in the U.S. in the 1920s because bishops complained it was too confusing to parishioners. It remained a common practice in the Middle East and Europe.

“Almost half of our priests in Lebanon are married, so it’s not an unusual event in the life of the Maronite church, though in the United States it is,” said Deacon Louis Peters, chancellor at St. Raymond’s.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.