Clerical marriage

Clerical marriage is the practice of allowing clergy (those who have already been ordained) to marry. It is a practice that must not to be confused with that of allowing married persons to become clergy. Clerical marriage is admitted in Protestantism, Anglicanism, some Independent Catholic Churches (not in communion with Rome), Judaism, Islam, and the Japanese sects of Buddhism.

The Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches, while allowing married men to be ordained, do not allow clerical marriage after ordination. Their parish priests are most often married, but must marry before becoming ordained as priests — although they can get married while still attending the seminary. However, married priests in these Churches cannot be further ordained as bishops.

There is no dispute that at least some of the apostles were married or had been married: a mother-in-law of Peter is mentioned in the account in Matthew 8:14, Mark 1:29-34, Luke 4:38-41 of the beginning of Jesus' ministry. 1 Timothy 3:2 says: "an overseer (Greek ἐπίσκοπος) must be ... the husband of one wife". This has been interpreted in various ways, including that the overseer was not allowed to remarry even if his wife died.

Some scholars hold that a tradition of clerical continence existed in early Christianity, whereby married men who became priests were expected to abstain from sexual relations with their wives. In this view, the early Church did not consider legitimate marriage by those who were already priests. The Council of Elvira, a local synod held in Hispania Baetica (part of modern Andalusia) in 306, before Constantine had legitimized Christianity, made it an explicit law that bishops and other clergy should not have sexual relations with their wives. The church canons known as the Ecclesiastical Canons of the Holy Apostles, which appear to have been composed in Syria or Egypt slightly earlier have also been interpreted as imposing a similar obligation.

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