John Cornelius, a former Episcopalian priest became a Roman Catholic priest this past weekend. As part of the deal, Cornelius, who has been married for 33 years, has taken the vow of celibacy.
John Cornelius will be ordained a Roman Catholic priest this weekend — and with the blessing of his wife they’re giving up their sex life.
Cornelius, a father of three, will become the first married Roman Catholic priest in New York — and Sharyl, his wife of 33-years, has agreed to the whole celibacy thing.“We have decided to do that voluntarily,” Cornelius told WGRZ-TV. “I have always had friends that are Roman Catholic priests and I appreciate what they’ve given up to serve God and the priesthood.”Cornelius, 64, is a former Episcopalian priest who converted three years ago to Catholicism. He said his old church had gotten too liberal for him.
The issues he had with the Episcopalian denomination seems to revolve around homosexuality.
“There was the ordination of the homosexual priest in New England,” he said. “Then it came time for women’s ordination. … It may have been okay for other people, but it was just too much for me.“I needed someplace where there was order,” he added.Cornelius had retired from the Episcopal priesthood after 20 years in 2010, and said there was a big void in his life.
I can’t help but wonder if there will be a new “void” in his life.
After his ordination, Cornelius will tend to a flock of other former Episcopalians at the Fellowship of Saint Alban in Henrietta, N.Y., a suburb of Rochester.
