Media
Release: Aug. 13, 2014
Sarasota Catholic Community Celebrates 45th
Wedding Anniversary of Married Priest Couple: Lee and Carol Ann Breyer on Sat.
Aug. 16th at Mass, 4PM – St.
Andrew UCC, Sarasota, Fl.
Contact: Bridget Mary Meehan 703-505-0004
On Sat. Aug. 16th, 2014, at 4:00 PM Mary
Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community will celebrate the 45th
wedding anniversary of married priest couple Carol Ann and Lee Breyer with a liturgy
followed by a barbecue at St. Andrew UCC
- 6908 Beneva Rd. in Sarasota, Florida, 34238.
Lee and Carol Ann will preside at this celebration.
St. Peter was married and so were 39 popes. Now Pope Francis hinted recently that married priests may be coming to
a parish near you. In an interview on Sunday with La Repubblica, an
Italian Newspaper, Francis described the practice of priestly celibacy as a
“problem” in need of fixing.
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| Carol Ann and Lee Breyer co-presiding at liturgy at Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community in Sarasota, Fl. |
You can get a preview of a dynamic married priest
couple in action at Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community in
Sarasota. Today married priests serve divorced Catholics who wish to marry
again; young couples who want to be married on beaches, in backyards, and in
hotel or other public facilities; LGBT
members whose states recognize their civil marriages; families of deceased
Catholics who no longer are connected with a parish, but who desire Catholic burials; those seeking Catholic Baptisms for children
outside of formal Church membership; and
on certain occasions, those who seek Reconciliation
outside of a formal confessional setting.
Many married priests are also serving in
worshipping communities that meet in non-Catholic churches, private homes, or
shopping centers outside of respective dioceses. Mary, Mother of Jesus Inclusive, Catholic
Church, offers just such an opportunity for married clergy and others to
minister publicly to the People of God. The practice of using Co-Presiders in liturgies completes the
partnership example envisioned a half century ago. Together with Roman Catholic
Women Priests, the married couples continue their service and witness to the “new model” which has its roots
in original community gatherings described in the Acts of the Apostles and
continued during the early centuries of Christianity.
Priests who sincerely believed during the era of
Vatican II that future Church practices would include optional, rather than
mandatory, celibacy began to choose marriage as an effective way of broadening
their ministerial calling through partnerships with spouses who shared their vision. The change in anticipated practice may have
died with Pope John XXIII because it never happened. However, many dedicated married priests
continued to serve those who were often disenchanted with the post-Vatican II
failure to implement many of the changes hinted at in Council documents. Today we are aware of organizations such as
CORPUS, CITI (Community Is the Issue), and the Federation of Christian
Ministries that provide some structure and endorsement of Sacramental actions
performed by married priests.
