For about 900 years, the Catholic Church has required that its priests stay celibate. The idea of falling in love never occurred to Wendeler. When he was ordained as a priest at the age of 30, he had never had a relationship with a woman.

Do Catholic priests want to marry?

Description. The Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, in general, rule out ordination of married men to the episcopate, and marriage after priestly ordination. Throughout the Catholic Church, East as well as West, a priest may not marry.

Can the pope have a wife?

Pope Francis, the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church has been credited for his humility and modern approach to the papacy, breaking traditions that had been upheld be popes for more than a century. This means the simple answer to this articles question is no, Popes do not marry.

How many Popes have been married?

There have been at least four Popes who were legally married before taking Holy Orders: St Hormisdas (514–523), Adrian II (867–872), John XVII (1003) and Clement IV (1265–68) – though Hormisdas was already a widower by the time of his election.

Can you be a nun if you are divorced?

A woman who has been married and divorced must have her marriage annulled within the church, he said, and, if she is a mother, her children must be old enough to not be her dependents. Widows can become nuns but have different criteria, he said.