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Married Catholic Priests: Their Niqueu Priestly Identity and Potential Catalyst for Change in the U.S

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University of St. Thomas, Minnesota UST Research Online Education Doctoral Dissertations in Leadership School of Education 2017 Married Catholic Priests: Their niqueU Priestly Identity and Potential Catalyst for Change in the U.S. Catholic Church Kenneth D. Varble University of St. Thomas, Minnesota, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_lead_docdiss Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Varble, Kenneth D., "Married Catholic Priests: Their niqueU Priestly Identity and Potential Catalyst for Change in the U.S. Catholic Church" (2017). Education Doctoral Dissertations in Leadership. 120. https://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_lead_docdiss/120 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Education at UST Research Online. It has been accepted for inclusion in Education Doctoral Dissertations in Leadership by an authorized administrator of UST Research Online. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Married Catholic Priests: Their Unique Priestly Identity and Potential Catalyst for Change in the U.S. Catholic Church A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, LEADERSHIP AND COUNSELING OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA By Kenneth D. Varble IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF EDUCATION 2017 ii 2017 Kenneth D. Varble ALL RIGHTS RESERVED iii UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS, MINNESOTA Married Catholic Priests: Their Unique Priestly Identity and Potential Catalyst for Change in the U.S. Catholic Church We certify that we have read this dissertation and approved it as adequate in scope and quality. We have found that it is complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the final examining committee have been made. Dissertation Committee __________________________________________ Karen B. Rogers, Ph.D., Committee Chair __________________________________________ Sarah J. Noonan, Ed.D., Committee Member __________________________________________ Massimo Faggioli, Ph.D., Committee Member __________________________________________ Final Approval Date iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I am thankful to God for His miraculous grace and the strength He has given me to pursue a lifetime of learning. I pray that this dissertation honors Him and all men the Holy Spirit has called to be in persona Christi on this earth; our Catholic priests. I would not have been able to pursue this dream without the love and support of my children, Meredith, Hannah, Sera and John. You truly are God’s blessings to me. To my cohort 22 colleagues; thank you for a tremendous learning experience. Each of you brought your intellectual gifts to our shared experience and through that sharing, I have benefited greatly. Thank you. To the faculty and staff of the College of Education, Leadership and Counseling I wish to thank you all and specifically my academic advisor, Fr. Jean-Pierre Bongila for your guidance, Dr. Bruce H. Kramer for inspiration, and all departmental faculty who have given to me of their time, knowledge and experience throughout my doctoral journey. To the faculty and staff of the Department of Catholic Studies; I wish to thank Dr. Robert Kennedy, Dr. John Boyle, Fr. Daniel Griffith, Dr. Paul Wojda, Dr. Gregory Coulter, Fr. Jan Michael Joncas, and Dr. Michael Naughton. Thank you for sharing your immense wisdom about the Catholic Faith. I feel privileged to have sat in each of your classrooms. To Sister Katarina Schuth, O.S.F., Endowed Professor for the Social Scientific Study of Religion at The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity, thank you for your kind words of encouragement and for sharing your wisdom with me. v A special thank you to my dissertation chair, Dr. Karen Rogers and my dissertation committee members, Dr. Sarah Noonan and Dr. Massimo Faggioli, for your support and encouragement throughout this process. Lastly, God’s blessings to each and every one of the Catholic Priests who gave of their precious time to a graduate student they had never met, to further the knowledge and study of our Catholic Faith. You have each been an inspiration to me and given me a renewed enthusiasm for the Catholic priesthood. Thank you. vi ABSTRACT This qualitative research study examined the lived experiences of fifteen married, Latin Rite, U.S. Catholic priests who were ordained through either the Pastoral Provision or the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. The purpose of this study was to understand the unique experiences these men share, differentiated from that of their celibate brethren. Data were collected through semi-structured phone interviews. Questions focused on leadership, celibacy, a priest shortage, the abuse crisis, homosexuality and same-sex attraction in the priesthood, priestly identity, the priest/parishioner relationship, alienation, the Pastoral Provision, the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, and the roles and effects that married priests might have on the U.S. Catholic Church. Analysis was crafted through the lens of postmodern American culture and role theory, including frames of Collective Consciousness, Complex Religious Systems, Symbolic Interactionism, and Presentation of Self. Themes that emerged were identity, role and career limitation. The more salient findings of this study are that these men are institutionally disadvantaged due to barriers of identity construction and their prescribed roles within the Church, both of which hinder career development within the Latin Rite, U.S. Catholic Church. Married priests tend to fully respect and admire those men called to the priesthood and who have accepted the vow of celibacy. They often struggle with financial hardships, particular to answering the call to the Catholic priesthood while supporting a spouse and family. This study highlights frustration with their limited roles in the Church and the effects those roles have on their identities and careers. Additionally, this study identifies necessary areas of support for this unique cohort of Catholic priests. Keywords: married Catholic priests, Pastoral Provision, Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, priestly celibacy, priestly identity. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................. iv ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................... vii TABLE OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................x CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................1 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................2 Purpose of the Study .......................................................................................................2 Research Questions .........................................................................................................3 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................3 Definition of Terms ........................................................................................................4 Political, Sociological, and Theological Terminology ...................................................6 Note regarding Anglican / Episcopal Churches ..............................................................6 Looking Forward ............................................................................................................7 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................9 Celibacy: Its History and Modern Issues ........................................................................9 A History of Celibacy and the Catholic Church ...........................................................10 The Inclusion of Married Priests...................................................................................13 Eastern Rite Catholic Priests ....................................................................................13 Pastoral Provision Priests .........................................................................................15 Priests of The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter ..................................16 Modernity and Issues of Clerical Celibacy ...................................................................17 The Priest Shortage .......................................................................................................18 The Sexual Abuse Scandal............................................................................................20 Homosexuality and Same-Sex Attraction in the Priesthood .........................................21 Priestly Identity .............................................................................................................22 Married Catholic Priests ...............................................................................................25 Visual Representation of Research Framework ............................................................28 Analytic Literature ........................................................................................................30
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