Topic summary
Catholic clergy
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Holy orders in the Catholic Church.
Marriage and holy orders
Married men may be ordained to the diaconate as permanent deacons, but in the Latin Church may not be ordained to the priesthood. Married non-Catholic clergy who convert to Catholicism through the Latin Church may, in some cases, be ordained priests. In the Eastern Catholic Churches and in the Eastern Orthodox Church married deacons may be ordained priests, but may not become bishops. Bishops in the Eastern Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox churches are almost always drawn from among monks, who have taken a vow of celibacy. They may be widowers, though; it is not required of them never to have been married.