MARRIED PRIEST
Dispensation From Pope
(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) SYDNEY, Oct. 8.
A former Anglican Church minister, watched by his wife and two of his three children, was ordained last night as Australia’s first married Roman Catholic priest. The Rev. Peter Rushton, who is 42, received a special dispensation from Pope Paul to allow him to enter the priesthood as a married man and without taking celibacy vows.
The dispensation allows Father RUshton to live with his family, but says they must live in “a simple and unworldly manner.” Father Rushton was ordained by the Archbishop of Hobart (the Rt Rev. Dr Guildford Young) and will take up his first appointment in Hobart next month.
He left the Church of England ministry in 1956 and approached Archbishop Young to enter the Roman Catholic priesthood in 1967. His case was put before the Australian Council of Bishops and the Vatican.
Dr William Murray, official spokesman for the Roman Catholic Church in Australia, said'he believed Father Rushton was the first married Roman Catholic priest in the English-speaking world.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32114, 9 October 1969, Page 17
Word Count
175MARRIED PRIEST Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32114, 9 October 1969, Page 17
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