Priests

From all the Priest's I've talked to, no. Granted, you can't really be friends with your parishioners because it would impede you in acting as their Priest, but most Priests have a great sense of camaraderie and friendship with their fellow Priests. Now as for 'romantic love' problems the point of becoming a Priest is so that you can give yourself completely to God and His service, so God would fill that area where a spouse would be for married men (the same goes for Monks and Nuns).

The above is a wonderful idealization but not really based on reality. Research among priests by church-sponsored researchers consistently reveals that most priest experience deep loneliness, sometimes leading to depression. As you note, they are set apart from their community because of their roles and the singularity of their lifestyle, without a spouse to support them. Some of course rise above this but others would prefer the vow be optional. It is a very hard life to lead and raises serious doubts about whether Christ wanted this as he chose married men to serve as apostles and preached that we are all called equally to find our way and help others find the kingdom of God. While some may choose celibacy, it was not Christ who required it.

For most priests it is a parish. But there are priests that look after other things and are not associated with a particular parish. Some work in chaplaincy roles in places like universities or hospitals or prisons. Some are members of an order that does not work in parishes, but work within their own community of priests. Some priests have official roles within a diocese.

white bread, pottage, milk and fish

The pope is the highest ranking member of the Catholic hierarchy.

Regretably, they had no such device for predicting the future, for the good reason that no such device exists.

You may know the truth of this by the following simple thought experiment:

1. The priests were charged with the preservation of their culture - or at the very least, their continued existence.

2. If they'd had such a device as to predict the future, they'd have used it to find out what dangers were going to come to them.

3. And yet the Spanish came and completely obliterated them, when any historian will tell you that it need not have been if the Aztecs had known of and understood the Spanish in advance.

See? The "magic" of logic shows that no predictive device existed.

Franciscans priests, known as friars, are Catholic priests who are members of the Order of Friars Minor (OFM). There are several branches of Franciscans such as the Capuchin Franciscans and Conventual Franciscans.

The order was founded by St. Francis of Assisi who was a Roman Catholic deacon.

yes Shinto priests and priestesses can marry and often are. (Living Religions Mary Pat Fisher)

Catholic opinion

1. This is not a decision of men, but of God. God decided that women bring men into the world. Jesus sent men to evangelize. There were women with Jesus as well. The Gospel mentions a few of them: firstly, Mary, the mother of Jesus; Mary Magdalene, His disciple and one of the first witnesses to the resurrection; Mary and Martha, the sisters who offered him hospitality in Bethany. They received of Jesus their own ministry. Mary is the most perfect creature, she brought forth Jesus and gave Him His human nature. Our salvation is born from her, yet she was not ordained. Women have other ministries in the Church, but not the priesthood, because of the will of God. This is why the Pope cannot change the Tradition. It's not his affair, but God's.

2. The tradition that men are priests goes back to the apostles of Jesus. Peter was Jesus' rock, or second in command, and went on to become the leader of the early Christian church. Women play what could be called ancillary roles as nuns and sisters, as did the women who followed Jesus. These traditional views are often seen as bigoted and are openly debated by those seeking leniency in tradition's interpretation and application.

These days, Tradition is still upheld; the Catholic Church's is notorious for resistance to change.

3. The Church has always followed the practice of Christ Himself, who ordained only men to be bishops, priests, and deacons. In 1994, Pope John paul II reaffirmed this 2000 year old tradition, declaring himself without authority to change it, while reaffirming that "The presence and the role of women in the life and mission of the Church, although not linked to the ministerial priesthood, remain absolutely necessary and irreplaceable." This issue is part of the much larger and holistic subject of the role of sexuality in human experience as understood by the Catholic Church, which has always understood both men and women to be made in the image of God. For more information, see The Theology of the Body and Ordinatio Sacerdotalis. Answer

It all also goes back to Jesus Christ himself implementing the pristhood at the Last Supper. While in the upper room, Jesus was only surrounded by his 12 disciples which were all men. Although he had many other followers, including his Mother Mary, he was surrounded by only men at the Last Supper where he instituted the Eucharist which is the true Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the example he left to show us and the Catholic Church still holds this rule.

4. because of the choices God made. In the time the Catholic Church was established virtually all pegan religions had "preistesses." The people whom ordain prestesses do so with out the authority or the Church, and have hence been threatened with excommunication. At the time the universal church was established it was unheard of to see the amount of involvement that was given to women as nuns. So it is less a problem with tradition and more with the will of god.

father, elder, monk, confessor, holy man, preacher

Eastern Orthodox priests never did. Many Catholic priests in the middle ages were married and/or had mistresses. They stopped allowing marriage at some point after that. ---- A Catholic Answer The earliest written documentation of celibacy among Catholic priests dates to the fifth century. With the fall of Rome, the barbarian invasions, and general turmoil throughout Christian Europe, the Catholic Church struggled to enforce this discipline throughout the early Middle ages, and succeeded in doing so only later in the Medieval period.

Imam

• They visited the temple twice a day.
• A priest took care of the gods and goddess statue needs
• The priest had to perform ceremony for the pharaoh when he passed away

God who is love and who created man and woman for love has called them to love. By creating man and woman he called them to an intimate communion of life and of love in marriage: “So that they are no longer two, but one flesh” (Matthew 19:6). God said to them in blessing “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28).

Priest in a way are married - to the Church. They do not marry symbolically because Jesus remained unmarried and so that they can give all of their time and energy to running their parish and serving the Church.

The idea of a universal priesthood is shared by the Catholic, Orthodox, Armenian communions. Anglicans also claim that their priests are part of a universal priesthood although the Catholic and Orthodox communions (I don't know about the Armenians) regard Anglican orders as null and void.

The concept of priesthood is based mostly on Paul's writings and they in turn reflect first century Jewish teaching. Priests act as an intermediary between God and mankind and for the past 2,000 years they have been male.

Although theologians are divided on the issue, most can see no theological objection to female priests or bishops. However, this is a matter of fundamental concern to all Christians and no part of the Church wants to go ahead in isolation. In the West, we have women plumbers, women engine drivers and even women Prime Ministers and the idea of women priests is not too strange to us. However, in the East, society is arranged differently and it is likely to be some time before the Orthodox communion come round to the idea of even discussing the issue. In the mean time, the previous Pope has called for a hiatus in public discussion in the Catholic church. If the Catholic church was to accept women priests in isolation, the goal of Christian unity would be set back 1,000 years. The Catholic church regards the unity for which Jesus prayed to be more important than priestly gender.

The Anglican communion regard themselves as both reformed and catholic. Many regard their introduction of female priests and now bishops as being a sign that they are a Protestant sect. Some are quite happy with such a state of being - others are voting with their feet.

Protestant denominations generally find the whole subject confusing, but - by and large - that's because they don't subscribe to a universal priesthood. Protestants have female ministers of the Eucharist - so do Catholics. Protestants have female preachers and ministers of the Gospel - so do Catholics. The priesthood is something different that was rejected by Luther and Calvin.

they can predict the future

Islam does not have priests, as Christians do. The person who leads Islamic prayer is called an "imam," but this can be any Muslim of good character who has memorize parts of the Holy Qur'an. well yes and the imam is the like the leader in the prayer we can call him sheikh

Yes. anyone in Sikhism is allowed to get marry.

If you are asking if one can subpoena a priest for information gained in the sacrament of Confession, the answer is, in America, no. A priest cannot be legally sanctioned to reveal under duress a sin that is confessed to him. Priests are in the business of saving souls, not aiding justice, or, even, saving lives. Furthermore, even IF a priest could face legal troubles over his oath to secrecy, a devout priest would rather be jailed than break this sacred oath.