My Call to Priesthood is the story of Ron Eberley's so-far futile effort to become a married priest. It is also a clear account of the checkered history and tortuous theology of mandatory celibacy.
"Eberley, a pastoral associate in the Archdiocese of Seattle, tells in a faith-filled and prayerful way, the winning story of his Catholic childhood and adult married life in Canada where he was a lay activist... Upon his wife's death, he sought for a time to become ordained but left the seminary to marry. Now he pleads that bishops appeal to Canon 1042 which allows the Holy See to grant dispensations to the rule of exclusivecelibacy... . Eberley's plea is for Catholic leaders to give us the married as well as the celibate diocesan priests we need." —Theological Studies
"The Catholic Church is the only Christian Church which makes marriage...an impediment to ordination. This impediment is in place only if the candidate is a baptized candidate in the Latin Rite. Eberley was. The clash between the convoluted artificiality...of this Church rule and the grace of Eberley's call and passion to serve,amounts to abuse... . Eberley's theological chapters give us solid scholarship and brilliant citations. His conclusion is not unwarranted: the fruits of mandatory celibacy are a Church riddled with denial, uniform mediocrity and dysfunctional sexuality." —Horizons