One of our priests from ACROD, Fr. James Dutko, represented the Orthodox position at the recent seminar held in Rome last month, sponsored by the Australian Catholic University and the Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies at St Paul University in Ottawa, Canada. Fr. Jim's account of the seminar, and excerpts from his presentation, is found at " Mandated Celibacy Among US Eastern Catholic Priests Theme of Seminar in Rome"
http://acrod.org/news/releases/rome-conferenceThe crux of Father Jim's presentation mirrored what Deacon Lance wrote - How can the Orthodox trust Rome on serious theological matters under discussion when Rome can not keep its word to her own Eastern Churches regarding the disciplinary, non-dogmatic rule of celibacy or non-celibacy among the clergy? Perhaps of more importance to the Orthodox is how long can honest and faithful Eastern Catholics continue to reward the Vatican with loyalty when they are continually treated like the odd stepchild? Rome has never understood how critical this issue is to her Eastern Catholics for to them the celibacy issue is the canary in the mine shaft - a warning of the true intentions of many within the Roman Church and a sign of cultural imperialism being exercised by Rome under the guise of theology or even doctrine.
Frankly, there is a movement troubling to the Orthodox and the Eastern Catholics now underway within some 'conservative' segments of the Roman church to attempt to 'validate' the statementas referenced earlier in this thread by James R regarding celibacy and the Apostolic priesthood. It was rumored that Seminarians from the Russicum and the Oriental Institute (the colleges of the Vatican University dedicated to the studies of the Eastern Church) were discouraged from attending the seminar, although many did attend. Also, one of the presenters, Fr. Basil Petra, a Latin-rite priest and a professor of theology at the Catholic University at Florence is a strong advocate in defense of the married presbyteriate and his works, while available in Florence are 'proscribed'(i.e. 'banned') within Rome itself.
As to the argument that in countries where the Latin Rite is the overwhelming majority of Catholics that allowing the married clergy of the 'Easterners' to exist would somehow 'scandalize' the Roman faithful - that is absurd. So - the Polish Catholics can't handle married Greek Catholic priests but say the Slovak or Czech Roman Catholics can handle it? My cousin is a married Greek Catholic priest in Plsen, Czech Republic - are the Roman Catholics there somehow 'superior' to those in say, Pittsburgh or Warsaw? Nothing has changed since the days of St. Alexis and Archbishop Ireland and Bishop Orestes Chornock and Bishop Basil Takach.
