We believe that Christ made the Last Supper the occasion of His most powerful and important statement , namely the Eucharistic imperative.  Trying to help to carry this out is why To Feed The Flock and the other organisations like it exist.

This is why we found an article in this week’s ‘Tablet’ very encouraging. The Movement for Married Clergy surveyed parish priests throughout England and Wales, “ asking them to estimate how many married laymen known to them  were suitable candidates for ordination”.  The 62 priests who replied identified 159 ‘viri probati ‘, men of known character . MMAC feels a projection would  create a larger number.

First of all, an important feature of this is that as many as 62 priests from 300 parishes were able to accept that the Eucharist need not be provided exclusively by the Tridentine clergy, celibate, theologically well-educated and supported by a parish, although at least 238 were not. This is a spectacular breakthrough when added to the recent support for this  expressed by about 10 English  bishops, and indeed to Pope Francis’s decision in January to allow married men to be ordained .We must hope that this is the first major sign of change , while it is still not too late.

Secondly, it is a breakthrough which will be the only way of bringing the Eucharist to China’s millions when they can play a part in the future of the Church.

Thirdly, we congratulate MMAC on the response  ; our 154 emails to Scottish priests on a wider extension of ordination got no response at all .(Check back: we’ve mentioned it umpteen times)

Fourthly, we feel that the concept of ‘married laymen known to them ‘ may change. Looking round  the church at Mass in Scotland, this might just mean  a stifling combination of old ordained celibates and old ordained married  parish worthies. We don’t just hope for extended ordination, but ordination extended to the  two lost generations. This is a cavil, and an important one, but one which cannot overshadow the significance of MMAC’s  enterprise.

We won’t dignify this trivial cavil by calling it ‘Fifthly’, but the expressions ‘married clergy’ or worse still ‘married priest’ tend to bring us out in a rash .’Married  priest’  for some seems inevitably to bring to mind children’s jammy fingers among the chasubles , bell, book and candle for recalcitrant mothers in law, or as was seen recently in a Filipino newspaper, a correspondent’s reluctance to tolerate  the priest’s wife on the altar accepting the Offertory Collections. We find these expressions a roadblock to any rational discussion on extending ordination, but we appreciate that a graduated response is necessary at the moment.

Once again, our congratulations to MMAC  !   Mighty oaks from little acorns grow, although theirs is a fairly substantial acorn.