Q. Can a divorced man become a priest?
A. Taken as written, this question has a very simple answer: no. A divorced man cannot become a priest because civil divorce has no canonical bearing on the marital status of a Catholic man. The Church recognizes that man as still being married and according to the law governing Latin Catholics a man who has a wife is impeded from receiving orders, unless he is pursing the permanent diaconate (c. 1042, 1).
If the question is rephrased to be ‘can a man who was married become a priest,’ the answer gets a bit more complex. Let’s say that we are talking about a man who was married but his wife passed away. The answer then becomes yes. While not common, this does happen throughout the world and has happened in our diocese. There is nothing that legally prevents a widower from pursuing the priesthood or a diocese from ordaining a man in that situation.
Changing up the parameters of the question yet again, let’s now say that the man has received a declaration of nullity of his presumed marriage and is, therefore, not married. He does not have a wife and is therefore not impeded.
However, the (as of this writing) most recent Program for Priestly Formation, the document that governs priestly formation in the United States (each Episcopal Conference has their own) states that “Applicants who have received a declaration of matrimonial nullity should be carefully screened. Although these men may have canonical freedom to pursue the priesthood, it is important to ascertain if and how previous obstacles to a marriage commitment or possible scandal might affect their viability as candidates for the priesthood” (PPF 5th edition n.67).
The concern is that a man may have been unable to enter into a valid marriage because of mental or emotional difficulties that would also preclude him from serving the Church as a priest. This would certainly not be the case for every man who has received a declaration of nullity, but the Church wants bishops to take extra care before they accept a man who has received a declaration of nullity as a seminarian for their diocese.
Additionally, if the man has children from this prior relationship, he would be unable to enter seminary until they reached the age in which they were no longer under his care (usually considered 18). This would be true for any man seeking to enter the seminary who has a child.
This question was answered by Father Caleb La Rue, vice chancellor of the Diocese of Lincoln. Write to Ask the Register using our online form, or write to 3700 Sheridan Blvd., Suite 10, Lincoln NE 68506-6100. All questions are subject to editing. Editors decide which questions to publish. Personal questions cannot be answered. People with such questions are urged to take them to their nearest Catholic priest.
