Editing Priest (section)

==== Eastern Orthodoxy ====
[[File:Orthodox priest family.jpg|thumb|[[Clerical marriage|Married Eastern Orthodox priest]] from [[Jerusalem]] with his family (three generations), {{circa|1893}}]]
{{Main|Priesthood (Eastern Orthodox Church)}}
In Orthodoxy, the normal minimum age is thirty (Can. 11 of Neocaesarea) but a bishop may dispense with this if needed. In neither tradition may priests marry after ordination. In the Catholic Church, priests in the Latin Church must be [[clerical celibacy|celibate]] except under special rules for married clergy converting from certain other Christian confessions.<ref>{{cite news
|title=Peoria diocese ordains its first married priest
|last=Miller
|first=Michael
|work=[[Peoria Journal Star]]
|date=May 17, 2008
|page=C8
|url=https://rentapriest.blogspot.com/2008/05/peoria-diocese-ordains-its-first.html
|access-date=2013-06-14
|quote=About 100 [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal]] priests, many of them married, have become Roman Catholic priests since a "pastoral provision" was created by [[Pope John Paul II]] in 1980, said [Doug] Grandon, director of catechetics for the diocese. [...] His family life will remain the same, he said. Contrary to popular misunderstandings, he won't have to be celibate.}}</ref> Married men may become priests in [[Eastern Orthodoxy]], but cannot marry after ordination, even if they become widowed. In the view of the Eastern Orthodox Churches:
{{quotation|By allowing married men to enter the priesthood, the Orthodox Church affirms the blessedness of marriage without lessening the affirmation of the blessedness of celibacy. St Clement of Alexandria writes: “Celibacy and marriage each have their own functions and specific services to the Lord”, and so “we pay homage to those whom the Lord has favoured with the gift of celibacy and admire monogamy and its dignity” (The Stromata, Book 3). Marriage according to the will of Christ, and celibacy as a devotion to Christ, are two different spiritual paths, equally valid for a true living of the spiritual life. This is so for ordained clergy as it is for everyone else.<ref name="Toumbelekis2014">{{cite web |last1=Toumbelekis |first1=Pandelis |title=Why does the Orthodox Church have married priests? |url=https://lychnos.org/why-does-the-orthodox-church-have-married-priests/ |publisher=Greek Orthodox Christian Society |access-date=2 February 2025 |language=en |date=2014}}</ref>}}
Candidates for bishop are chosen only from among the celibate. Orthodox priests will either wear a [[clerical collar]] similar to the above-mentioned, or simply a very loose black robe that does not have a collar. The garb of an Eastern Orthodox priest is generally the same as that of an [[Eastern Catholic]] or [[Eastern Lutheran]] priest.