Archdiocese of Madrid: Laicized married priests cannot exercise ministry

Madrid, Spain, Sep 28, 2009 / 13:28 pm

The Archdiocese of Madrid issued a statement Friday explaining that laicized or married priests cannot exercise their ministry. The clarification was made in response to some media reports that said married priests would be celebrating Mass.

“The Church expressly prohibits laicized priests or priests who have left and married, thus abandoning their priestly commitments, from exercising the priestly ministry, and therefore, from celebrating Mass as well as the other sacraments,” the statement indicated.

When the Archdiocese of Madrid verifies that such a situation has occurred, the clarification said, “ecclesial authorities immediately communicate this prohibition to person in question.”

The archdiocese also underscored that it has no knowledge of any priest in such a state who is celebrating the sacraments at any parish or place of worship within the archdiocese.

Lastly, the Archdiocese of Madrid expressed its desire that “this Year for Priests would stir up in every priest a generous and renewed commitment to the ideals of total donation to Christ and the Church, an essential condition for responsible exercise of the priestly ministry.”