Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Father of eight becomes Catholic priest

Pro-life activist and married father of eight Paul Schenck changed faiths yet again and became a Catholic priest, receiving the sacrament of Holy Orders in a ceremony at St. Joseph Church in Springettsbury Township, Pa on June 12, 2010.

Schenck grew up in a Jewish home. At 16, he was baptized in the Niagara River by a Salvation Army officer and later became a Protestant pastor, eventually founding his own New Covenant Tabernacle church in a Buffalo suburb. He later joined the Reformed Episcopal Church, serving several years as rector at an Anglican church in Catonsville, Md. Schenck converted to Catholicism in 2004. He has a BA from the Elim Bible Institute and a masters from Catholic University.

Fr. Schenck is best known as the head of the National Pro-Life Action Center and in 1992 was featured on the cover of Life magazine confronting a pro-choice demonstrator. He is married and the couple have eight children: Leah Crowne, Ari, Abraham, Jordan, Miriam, Marta, Isaac, and Eva.

Schenck had been ordained for only a few minutes when he administered communion for the first time as a Catholic priest. The first person to step forward and receive: Rebecca Schenck, his wife of 33 years.

Fr. Schenck will continue to work as the Diocese of Harrisburg's director of the Office of Respect Life Activities, and he will be an associate pastor at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament in Harrisburg.

Isn't it amazing what the pastoral provision can do? And yet a birth Catholic with a similar pro-life record can't become a priest if he is married. Am I the only one who sees the injustice in this?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Nope its not fair...I just kerp thinking how much stronger the priesthood would be and the social teachings of the Church if many more devout Catholic married men were allowed to be ordained.