Fathers, Husbands and Rebels (married priests are attracting a following).

[papau]

So there is a a Massachusetts ministry known as CITI: Celibacy Is The Issue with a Rent A Priest website http://www.rentapriest.com ? Who knew! :-)

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-married8jul08,0,321207.story?track=tottext

COLUMN ONE
Fathers, Husbands and Rebels
Acting outside the Catholic Church, many married priests are attracting a following.
By Elizabeth Mehren
Times Staff Writer

July 8, 2005

BOSTON — The priests came from three states, converging on a suburban park one Sunday to conduct an outdoor Mass. Wearing white vestments with rainbow-hued stoles, they led the worshippers in prayer and song. They stuck closely to traditional Roman Catholic liturgy.

But as they raised their arms in blessing, the five men revealed unmistakable proof of defiance: All wore wedding bands.

These men, who still consider themselves Roman Catholic priests, have wives, children — and unflinching commitments to their 2,000-year-old faith. As married priests, they say, they are not heretical anomalies but, instead, are following a model set by priests and popes in the earliest days of their church. They are part of a growing national network of thousands of deeply religious men who believe marriage does not compromise their ability to serve as spiritual ministers.

These married priests honor ordination as an irreversible sacrament, though the church no longer recognizes them as priests. They are solemnizing marriages — including second marriages and same-sex unions. They baptize babies. They officiate at funerals. They say Masses at healthcare facilities and private homes.

More and more rank-and-file Catholics, whose respect for church hierarchy was shattered by the clerical sex-abuse scandal, are accepting married priests and seeking their services.<snip>