Prentice Dean will be ordained as a Catholic priest on Monday \u201d\u201d while his wife watches.<\/p>\n
The former Episcopal priest and father of two will become the first married priest in the Nashville diocese.<\/p>\n
He resigned from the Episcopal Church because he thought the denomination had moved away from traditional Christianity. He converted to Catholicism five years ago, and, after Monday, he’ll be celebrating Mass, hearing confessions and handling all the responsibilities of a priest.<\/p>\n
Since the 1980s, the Roman Catholic Church has allowed former Episcopal priests, like Dean, to be ordained under a special provision. Church leaders say the provision is an act of grace toward converts. But some wonder why that same grace isn’t extended to former Catholic priests who left the ministry to marry.<\/p>\n
Right now, about 100 married former Episcopal priests have been ordained. Still, the vast majority of the more than 40,000 priests in the United States are celibate.<\/p>\n