Roman Catholics shunned by the official church because of divorce or sexual orientation are "renting" married priests online.
The rent-a-priest website, based on a national database known as "God's Yellow Pages," offers believers access to some 2,500 Catholic priests, writes Reuters. Virtually all those priests have left their official ministries as a result of the Roman Catholic Church's celibacy rule; some are gay. The priests conduct weddings, usually for a fee, and perform baptisms, last rites and funerals for free, in keeping with accepted practice.
"We are doing Jesus' work and apparently the church isn't," Louise Haggett, director of Celibacy Is The Issue (CITI) ministries, is quoted as saying. CITI runs the site and helped arrange 3,000 weddings last year.
The group is attempting to change the Church ban on married priests. Haggett said 21 canons in church law validate married priests. The church does not recognize these priests because they violated their vows, according to a Church spokesman.
