If Pope Francis is going to study ordaining married men as priests, a very good place to start would be to consult with what God himself has said on the subject, as he is after all, Almighty God, the maker of heaven and earth. Even the Roman Catholic Bible (which I believe is a very poor translation) declares that to forbid to marry is a doctrine or teaching of devils. 1 Timothy 4:1-3 in The New American Bible reads, "The Spirit distinctly says that in later times some will turn away from the faith and will heed deceitful spirits and things taught by demons through plausible liars - men with seared consciences who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by believers who know the truth."
It is men who are liars, who have seared consciences that promote the teaching of demons, which is the forbidding of marriage.
If you open what has been called the greatest work of prose in the English language, the Protestant King James Bible, you can read Proberbs 18:22, which declares: "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord."
What would be wrong with finding a good thing and obtaining God's favour? That would explain why, again, even the Catholic Bible states that a bishop should be married with children. 1 Timothy 3:2a reads "A bishop must be irreproachable, married only once,..." and according to verse 4, "He must be a good manager of his own household, keeping his children under control without sacrificing his dignity."
Perhaps on this year of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, this might be the first step of the Roman Catholic Church to return to the Christian faith that it turned away from many centuries ago. It remains a shame that on Canada's sesquicentennial, its own Luther, Charles Chiniquy, continues to have his memory ignored by major Canadian institutions, though he was a celebrated, accomplished, world famous figure, possibly Abraham Lincoln's best friend, and, according to a 2009 biography by a Quebec academic, still Canada's best-selling author of all time.
Paul Serup, Prince George
