A Married Priest?

[tinytherese]

At my cousin's catholic parish, there's a priest there who used to be protestant. He has a wife and three kids. After his conversion he became so interested in the faith that he got permission to go to the seminary and got ordained. How come the church allowed that? I know that it doesn't allow married priests under other circumstances but how come it was allowed in this one? After all, they take a vow of celibacy.

[cappie]

The vow of celibacy for a diocesan priest is a matter of discipline in the Latin Church. The vow of chastity for a member of a religious order (such as the one I belong to ) is mandatory. You cannot be for example a Capuchin and be married.

In the case of a Protestant minister who converts, if the bishop deems that he has a vocation and was an active minister in his own denomination then the bishop can apply to the Pope for a dispensation from the vow of priestly celibacy. In the case of an Catholic who already knows the disciplinary teaching of the church no such dispensation is possible at this time.

BTW if his wife was to die he cannot remarry