Archbishop Milingo

"Married Priests Now!" Statement of Purpose

Married Priests are Longing to Serve Through the Church

It is very clear that the Roman Catholic Church has a great need of priests. The Bishops worldwide have brought their concern repeatedly to the Vatican. In addition priests are needed to bring the Eucharist to those Catholic people who do not have a resident priest. The Eucharist is the essence of Catholicism.

Currently on the sideline, there are approximately 150,000 validly ordained priests. But these priests are married. The majority of these priests are ready, and willing to return to the sacred ministry of the altar.

It is our mission to find a way to reconcile these married priests with the Church and to reinstate them in the public sacred ministry, working in every way possible with the Church.

It is evident that the "care of souls" demands a new pastoral provision to make this vision a reality.

No lesser apostle than St. Paul himself demonstrated his theology of the priesthood and the episcopacy when he wrote to Timothy:

"A Bishop must be irreproachable, married only once, temperate, self controlled, decent, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not aggressive, but gentle, not contentious, not a lover of money." (Timothy 3:2-3)

Married priests are longing to serve God and the people in the Christian community through the church. The new association of married priests called "Married Priests Now!" is calling for those priests who are currently married, and all national and international married priest organizations to unite in an open call to the Roman Catholic Church to reconcile married priests to active service. Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo feels that he is an apostle called to bring married priests back to full service in the church due to the current priest shortage and the need to bring the Eucharist to every Catholic.

Archbishop Milingo wants to see a priest in every parish. He feels it is the Will of God to bring priests back as full, vibrant and active ministers of the word and Eucharist.

Married Priests Now! seeks to value the ministry of married priests and reconcile them to public sacred ministry. It is not only a benefit to the church but to all of humanity. The role of the married priests in the family is essential. The family is the nucleus of the church and of society. The priest’s ministry to his family gives him the experience and relationship to see the gospel differently and practically.

The charisma of married priests is needed now. St. Peter was a married priest and so were the other apostles. It is the right of every human person to freely be accepted and given in marriage. This right must be returned to priests in the Latin Roman Communion. It is not only a matter of justice to the priesthood but a matter of the survival of the Church in the future.

For further information about Married Priests Now! please call 202-577-3544.