Foreward by Louise Haggett

The power of the Lord was upon me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley full of old, dry bones that were scattered everywhere across the ground. He led me around among them, and then he said to me: "Son of dust, can these bones become people again?" I replied, "Lord, you alone know the answer to that." Then he told me to speak to the bones and say: "O dry bones, listen to the words of God, for the Lord God says, 'See! I am going to make you live and breathe again! I will replace the flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you shall live and know I am the Lord.'"

So I spoke these words from God, just as he told me to; and suddenly there was a rattling noise from all across the valley, and the bones of each body came together and attached to each other as they used to be. Then, as I watched, the muscles and flesh formed over the bones, and skin covered them, but the bodies had no breath. Then God told me to call to the wind and say: "The Lord God says: Come from the four winds, O Spirit, and breathe upon these slain bodies, that they may live again."

So I spoke to the winds as he commanded me, and the bodies began breathing; they lived and stood up-- a very great army.” --Ezekiel 37:1-28:

Ezekiel 37 came to life for me in 1992 when I was sitting in the balcony at a Chicago meeting of Corps of Priests United for Service (CORPUS), observing a phenomenon--a gathering of priests who had married, along with their wives and families. I, and the rest of the world, had no idea that married priests existed then, because the Catholic church had kept these special priests such a secret from its “pay, pray and obey” parishioners... ”don’t upset the apple cart in the collection plate

Many other priests—the ones who were either too afraid, or didn’t have enough integrity, to leave when they too struggled with a celibacy rule—suffered severely psychologically resulting for some in criminal acts against children, now widely known in the church throughout the world. (The Bingo Report, Haggett, 2005)

For me, the discovery of married priests in 1991 was serendipitous. I had attempted to locate a priest to visit my Mom in an assisted living facility. When I was faced with ‘no priest available’ I became curious about the shortages in the priesthood, leading to some cursory research that uncovered shortages in the priesthood and the fact that 25,000 priests in the U.S. alone had already married in the previous 20 years.

These were the dry bones of Ezekiel 37 that were just beginning to come to life, to get breath and tendons and skin. They were getting together and supporting one another.

Meantime, 48 million Catholics no longer were attending regular Sunday Mass, and did not know where to go for their spiritual needs. However, ecclesial laws of the Catholic Church (Canon Laws) allowed these priests to provide sacraments as long as the request came from the recipient (Can. 843). In fact, a priest could not refuse.

The only aspect missing in the ministry of married priests was legal certification to perform civil marriage ministry, lost when they left their clerical status in the church. Through the newly formed nonprofit organization Celibacy Is the Issue, we were able to arrange for appropriate certification, and eventually changed our name to CITI Ministries, Inc.

Today, after twenty years, married priests have assisted well over one million individuals with their spiritual needs, which, for one reason or another, could not be met by the Catholic institution...and the ministry continues in various forms. The added grace is that the ministry is without borders...not just for Catholics.

Married priests and their wives have beautiful poignant stories to tell about their transition, their ministry, their philosophy and they are beginning to make the stories public. Some are gathered here so that an archive can be established to keep the spirit of these prophets alive.

Many thanks to Rev. Jim and Jackie Lovejoy who continue to labor over the anthology project so that the history is not lost. They will be among the first inductees in the newly established Rent A Priest Hall of Fame to be announced in the fall of 2012 at www.rentaprieststory.blogspot.com

More information about CITI Ministries, Inc. by clicking on the rose-colored link.

©2012 Louise Haggett, Founder, lhaggett@aol.com

Author of The Bingo Report: Mandatory Celibacy and Clergy Sexual Abuse, csri99@aol.com The Story of CITI/Rentapriest: www.rentaprieststory.blogspot.com