From the Revd Maggie McLean
Sir, - Your feature last week "To Rome, with a wife" was both instructive and entertaining. But it was
also sad to read how these priests characterised their transition from the
Church of England to that of Rome. I do not think the description of
re-ordination as "a computer upgrade" or "re-spraying" does justice to the
official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church about either the status of
Anglican orders or the nature of priesthood.
Clearly, these men are struggling to reconcile their past to their present,
and perhaps it will take a further ten years for it all to sink in.
MAGGIE McLEAN
The Vicarage, Scholes Lane, Scholes, Cleckheaton BD19 6PA
From the Bishop of Rochester
Sir, - In your otherwise excellent article on married priests in the Roman
Catholic Church, you omitted to mention the Eastern Rite and Uniat Churches
(not exactly the same thing). They have their own liturgy, discipline, and
canon law. This last often allows for married priests.
In our day, many from these Churches, which can be found from India to the
Ukraine, are living in Western countries. This creates further pressure on the
Latin-rite in respect of married clergy in the Western Church.
MICHAEL ROFFEN:
Bishopscourt, St Margaret's Street, Rochester, Kent ME1 1TS