Married Davenport man will become Catholic priest

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) - A Davenport man will continue his 29-year marriage when he is ordained this summer as a priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport.

Chris Young, 53, will join the clergy thanks to a 1980 dispensation from Pope John Paul II, according to the Quad-City Times (https://bit.ly/1h1kfGL ). The order, called The Pastoral Provision, applies to former clergy of the Episcopal Church.

“I get to keep my wife, and I am keeping my wedding band on,” Young said.

Young will be one of about 100 men in the U.S. who became Catholic priests through such a process.

He will be made a transitional deacon, or one who intends to become a priest, in a Tuesday ceremony. He will be ordained June 7 at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport, joining two other men who are becoming priests through a more traditional route.

Young was a lifelong Episcopalian until eight years ago and had served as priest at Christ Episcopal Church in Moline, Ill.

He and his wife, Jody Young, have three children, and they were attending Catholic Schools in Rock Island, Ill., when Pope John Paul II died in 2005.

The couple was moved by the pope’s death and decided to join the Catholic Church.

Chris Young said he was drawn to “unequivocally belong to the church that our lord himself had founded.”

He wrapped up his responsibilities at Christ Episcopal Church and began a 26-step process to the priesthood. Bishop Martin Amos, who leads the Davenport Diocese, has given his approval to Young’s effort.

Young said he’ll practice celibacy upon becoming a priest.

His wife, Jody Young, said it’s an unusual change but one she accepts.

“It’s a matter of trusting God,” said Young, who is a nurse.

She said she’s happy that her marriage can continue and she noted the strong relationship her husband has with their children, ages 19, 20 and 23.

She said that in some ways, this change isn’t nearly as tough as her life earlier, when the couple had three young children and her husband was in the seminary.

“That was much more difficult,” Young said.

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Information from: Quad-City Times, https://www.qctimes.com