As time progresses, long-standing organizations must make the necessary changes to survive in a progressive environment. Evidence of these changes can be seen in the Mormon Church's decision to denounce polygamy in 1890 and the Jewish adaptation to allowing, but not condoning, intermarriage among different faiths. These religious groups understood that, in order to survive, they must conform to the perceptions of society and adhere to newly accepted approaches to issues. A study on the amount of men joining the priesthood revealed a drop 15,000 priests from 1968 to 2004 (a four percent decrease worldwide, but fourty percent nation wide). Also in America, almost half of the priests will be 55 of older. Experts have concluded that this trend will continue with the present state of the church.
The Catholic Church needs to allow their dedicated and devoted priests to enter the holy institution of marriage. The numbers show there is a steady decrease in joining priests, therefore the church must conform to allow a broader range of people into the religious vocation, namely people who want to be married. Is it so hard to believe that a priest can juggle a religious responsibility with his community and a fulfilling life with a family? A priest that can achieve this dynamic relationship between religion and home will prove to be a role model for the institution of marriage, which has suffered greatly in success rates in the last 40 years.
The Catholic Church needs to allow their dedicated and devoted priests to enter the holy institution of marriage. The numbers show there is a steady decrease in joining priests, therefore the church must conform to allow a broader range of people into the religious vocation, namely people who want to be married. Is it so hard to believe that a priest can juggle a religious responsibility with his community and a fulfilling life with a family? A priest that can achieve this dynamic relationship between religion and home will prove to be a role model for the institution of marriage, which has suffered greatly in success rates in the last 40 years.
3 comments:
You bring up a good point about other religions have changed practices in order to better fit with society norms. I feel like this may be hard for Catholics though, because they have often kept old practices despite criticism. They still advocate that birth control should not be used, even though this is a much outdated policy in todays society. I am interested to see what you write in later posts about this subject.
LH
I agree that a religious figure can serve as a good role model. I think it would be a good think if priests could marry.
HT
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