Citizen Columns
Question
Are clergy allowed to marry in the Orthodox tradition and if so why or why not?
Answer
The Orthodox churches follow a middle path. Parish clergy (deacons and
priests) may be married, and most of them are, but bishops must be
unmarried, i.e., celibate priests, monks or widowers.
I was ordained as a priest exactly 22 years ago today and am married. The
decision to be married must come before ordination. Deciding to be married
or celibate means that clergy are more settled in their own life before they
take up the responsibilities of caring for a congregation. And looking for a
wife from among one's parishioners is inconsistent with fatherly pastoral
oversight! Since a single marriage is the ancient Christian ideal, no second
marriage is permitted for clergy (see 1 Tim 3:2, 12, Titus 1:6).
Married clergy experience the joys and stresses that most families in their
parishes face. They know what it is to keep working on their marriage, to
raise children, juggle competing demands and face financial anxieties, while
at the same time attempting to live out the Christian life with
perseverance, gratitude and joy. This is a struggle for the priest just as
it is for his parishioners, and this at least makes for a pastor who can
sympathize from the inside with the weaknesses of others.
Most of the apostles and first bishops were married, including the Apostle
Peter. But early Christians placed great emphasis on sexual purity and
virginity, in contrast to the licentiousness around them. While the goodness
of marriage was repeatedly affirmed, by the 2nd century, voluntary chastity,
even in marriage, was increasingly prized as an anticipation of the Kingdom
of God, in which sexual love and the bonds of marriage were to be
transcended (Matthew 22:30). By the 4th century, monastic celibacy became
the Christian ideal, and by the 6th century in the Byzantine Empire it was
required of bishops, though not of priests.
Although there is an emerging debate about restoring married bishops in the
Orthodox Church, change is unlikely anytime soon.
With love in Christ,
Father John Jillions
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