# Can Eastern Orthodox Priests Marry? > An Orthodox clergy answer says a married man may be ordained deacon or priest, once, and may not marry after ordination. The OCA’s Trullo essay says bishops are celibate. Catholic Canon 277 binds clerics to celibacy. Anglican Article XXXII says priests may marry. - Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/can-eastern-orthodox-priests-marry - Religions: Christianity - Denominations: Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican - Beliefs: none - Tags: priesthood, marriage, celibacy - Updated: 2026-10-11 - Author: [Paul Ambrose](https://apologetics.wiki/author/hi-its-paul) ([GitHub](https://github.com/hi-its-paul)) A married man may be ordained an Eastern Orthodox deacon or priest. He may not marry after ordination, and the bishops are celibate. That is the Orthodox Church in America’s account. The Catholic Church’s Canon 277 binds clerics to celibacy. The Anglican Article XXXII says it is lawful for bishops, priests, and deacons to marry. This page quotes those texts. It does not decide. ## Key Points - An [OCA clergy answer](https://www.oca.org/questions/priesthoodmonasticism/divorce-and-ordination) [(1)](#ref-1) says “married men may be ordained to the diaconate and priesthood,” if each spouse has been married only one time. A widower may be ordained if he has not remarried, “and he may not marry after his ordination.” The page is not a synod. - The [OCA essay on the Council of Trullo](https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/church-history/seventh-century/the-council-of-trullo-or-the-quinisext-council) [(2)](#ref-2) says the council rejected a rule that deacons and presbyters must promise no longer to cohabit with their wives. It quotes “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” - The same essay says the council “reaffirmed the rule that unmarried priests, deacons, and subdeacons may not marry after their ordination,” and that “only celibates, normally taken from among the monks, may serve in the office of the bishop” (canons 12 and 48). The page is catechesis, not the canons’ critical edition. - [Canon 277 §1](https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib2-cann208-329_en.html) [(3)](#ref-3): “Clerics are obliged to observe perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the kingdom of heaven and therefore are bound to celibacy.” - [Article XXXII](https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/articles-religion) [(4)](#ref-4) says bishops, priests, and deacons “are not commanded by God’s Law, either to vow the estate of single life, or to abstain from marriage,” and that it is lawful for them “to marry at their own discretion.” - [1 Timothy 3:2](/bible/1-timothy/3/2) [(5)](#ref-5) says a bishop must be “the husband of one wife.” [Matthew 19:12](/bible/matthew/19/12) [(7)](#ref-7) speaks of those who “have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake.” ## May a Married Man Be Ordained? The [Orthodox Church in America](https://www.oca.org/questions/priesthoodmonasticism/divorce-and-ordination) [(1)](#ref-1) answer is a clergy question-and-answer, not a synod: > Concerning ordination, married men may be ordained to the diaconate and priesthood. However, they must be married only one time to a woman who also has been married only one time. If a man is a widower, he too may be ordained, provided that he has not remarried, and he may not marry after his ordination. The Tradition of the Orthodox Church is that both the priest as well as his wife must have been married only one time—to each other. The same answer says this applies whether the earlier marriage ended by divorce or by widowhood, and that exceptions are rare. It does not say a man must marry in order to be ordained. It says a married man may be ordained, once, to the diaconate or the priesthood. A title for the priest’s wife was not in the pages fetched here. The [essay on Trullo](https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/church-history/seventh-century/the-council-of-trullo-or-the-quinisext-council) [(2)](#ref-2), also catechesis, says the council was held in the imperial palace called Trullo and “made no doctrinal proclamations.” It issued canonical regulations. Against a practice the essay attributes to Rome, that men advanced to the diaconate or presbyterate should promise no longer to cohabit with their wives, the council’s words as the essay prints them are that “the lawful marriages of men who are in holy orders be from this time forward firm, by no means dissolving their union with their wives.” The essay quotes Matthew 19:6, “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder,” Hebrews 13:4, “Marriage is honorable and the bed undefiled,” and 1 Corinthians 7:27, “Are you bound to a wife? Seek not to be loosed.” ## May He Marry After Ordination? The clergy answer says he may not marry after his ordination. The Trullo essay says the council “reaffirmed the rule that unmarried priests, deacons, and subdeacons may not marry after their ordination.” A man who is already unmarried at ordination stays unmarried. A man who is already married stays with that wife. The essay is not a critical edition of the Greek canons. The sentences above are what that church’s catechism page prints. ## Why Are the Bishops Celibate? The same essay: “this council reinforced the law dating from Justinian’s time that only celibates, normally taken from among the monks, may serve in the office of the bishop (Canons 12 and 48).” The page does not say a bishop must be married. It says the office of bishop is for celibates, normally monks. [Eastern Orthodox vs Catholic](/christianity/eastern-orthodox-vs-catholic) quotes Mastrantonis: the Orthodox Church “does not believe in compulsory celibacy of clergymen.” That sentence is about clergymen as a class. The Trullo essay distinguishes priests, who may be married before ordination, from bishops, who are celibate. ## What the Catholic Church Requires [Canon 277 §1](https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib2-cann208-329_en.html) [(3)](#ref-3): > Clerics are obliged to observe perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the kingdom of heaven and therefore are bound to celibacy which is a special gift of God by which sacred ministers can adhere more easily to Christ with an undivided heart and are able to dedicate themselves more freely to the service of God and mankind. The Latin code’s rule for clerics is celibacy. The Orthodox essay’s rule for bishops is also celibacy. The difference the two texts mark is the married priest: the OCA pages allow his marriage if it came before ordination, and Canon 277 binds clerics to continence and celibacy. [What Do Catholics Believe?](/christianity/what-do-catholics-believe) [Article XXXII](https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/articles-religion) [(4)](#ref-4) is a third text, from the Church of England: “Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, are not commanded by God’s Law, either to vow the estate of single life, or to abstain from marriage: therefore it is lawful for them, as for all other Christian men, to marry at their own discretion, as they shall judge the same to serve better to godliness.” That article includes bishops. The Trullo essay does not. [What Do Anglicans Believe?](/anglican/what-do-anglicans-believe) quotes the same article. ## What the Bible Says [1 Timothy 3:2](/bible/1-timothy/3/2) [(5)](#ref-5): “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach.” [Titus 1:6](/bible/titus/1/6) [(6)](#ref-6): “If any be blameless, the husband of one wife.” The verses are qualifications for a bishop, including “the husband of one wife.” They do not say he must be married, and they do not say he must be single. The OCA answer reads “one” as one marriage, not a second. Canon 277 reads the clerical state as celibacy for the kingdom. Article XXXII says God’s law does not command the single life. [Matthew 19:12](/bible/matthew/19/12) [(7)](#ref-7): “there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.” The verse is about those who abstain for the kingdom, and about being able to receive it. Canon 277 calls celibacy a special gift of God for that service. [1 Corinthians 7:27](/bible/1-corinthians/7/27) [(8)](#ref-8): “Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.” The Trullo essay quotes the first question against dissolving a cleric’s marriage. The verse is Paul’s counsel about staying as one is. [Hebrews 13:4](/bible/hebrews/13/4) [(9)](#ref-9): “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.” The essay quotes the first clause for the marriages of men in holy orders. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Are Eastern Orthodox Priests Required to Marry? The clergy answer does not require marriage. It says married men may be ordained, under the one-marriage rule, and that a man may not marry after ordination. An unmarried man can be ordained. He then does not marry. ### Can an Orthodox Priest Marry? If he is already married, once, to a woman married only once, he may be ordained and remain married. If he is not married, the Trullo essay says he may not marry after ordination. The marriage comes before the ordination, or it does not come. ### Can a Widowed Orthodox Priest Remarry? The clergy answer says a widower may be ordained if he has not remarried, and that he may not marry after ordination. The tradition it states is one marriage, to each other, including when the marriage ended by widowhood. It calls exceptions rare. ### Can Eastern Orthodox Bishops Marry? The Trullo essay says only celibates, normally monks, may serve as bishop. That is the opposite of the priest’s rule. [Article XXXII](https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/articles-religion) [(4)](#ref-4) says Anglican bishops may marry. [Canon 277](https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib2-cann208-329_en.html) [(3)](#ref-3) binds Catholic clerics to celibacy. ## The Churches on This Site - [Eastern Orthodox](/eastern-orthodox) - [Catholic](/catholic) - [Anglican](/anglican) - [Christianity](/christianity) - [Eastern Orthodox vs Catholic](/christianity/eastern-orthodox-vs-catholic) - [What Does the Eastern Orthodox Church Believe?](/christianity/what-does-the-eastern-orthodox-church-believe) - [What Do Anglicans Believe?](/anglican/what-do-anglicans-believe) - [Common Arguments](/common-arguments#can-eastern-orthodox-priests-marry) ## Passages Quoted on This Page ### 1 Timothy 3:2 King James Version. > A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; ### Matthew 19:12 King James Version. > For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. ### Titus 1:6 King James Version. > If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. ## Sources Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site. 1. [Divorce and Ordination, Questions and Answers](https://www.oca.org/questions/priesthoodmonasticism/divorce-and-ordination) (A clergy question-and-answer on the Orthodox Church in America website, not a synodal definition.) 2. [The Council of Trullo, Church history](https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/church-history/seventh-century/the-council-of-trullo-or-the-quinisext-council) (A catechetical essay on the Orthodox Church in America website, not a critical edition of the canons. It quotes the canon against requiring clergy to leave their wives, and it summarizes canons on marriage after ordination and on bishops.) 3. [Code of Canon Law, Canon 277](https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib2-cann208-329_en.html) (English on the Holy See’s website. Latin clerics are bound to celibacy.) 4. [Articles of Religion, Article XXXII](https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/articles-religion) (Church of England. Bishops, priests, and deacons may marry at their own discretion.) 5. [First Letter to Timothy, 3:2](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/1-timothy/3/2). King James Version 6. [Letter to Titus, 1:6](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/titus/1/6). King James Version 7. [Gospel of Matthew, 19:12](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/matthew/19/12). King James Version 8. [First Letter to the Corinthians, 7:27](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/1-corinthians/7/27). King James Version 9. [Letter to the Hebrews, 13:4](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/hebrews/13/4). King James Version ## See Also - [Can You Lose Your Salvation? What Each Church Teaches About "Once Saved, Always Saved"](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/once-saved-always-saved) — Can a Christian lose salvation? Official teaching from Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, and other churches, with the King James verses each side cites. - [Do Catholics Believe Mary Was Sinless?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/do-catholics-believe-mary-was-sinless) — Ineffabilis Deus in 1854 defines Mary as preserved from original sin at her conception. The Catechism adds that she remained free of every personal sin. An Orthodox clergy answer calls that definition foreign. Augsburg and Article IX speak of original sin in everyone naturally born. - [How Was the Bible Canon Decided, and What Is the Apocrypha?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/what-is-the-apocrypha) — Trent receives the longer Old Testament and anathematizes refusal. Westminster says the books called Apocrypha are no part of the canon. The Catechism says the Church discerned the list by Tradition. - [Is Praying to Saints in the Bible?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/is-praying-to-saints-in-the-bible) — The Council of Trent says it is good and useful to invoke the saints, and that the honour of images is referred to the prototypes. The Catechism calls image honour veneration, not the adoration due to God alone. Augsburg and Article XXII refuse calling on the saints. - [Is Purgatory Biblical?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/is-purgatory-biblical) — The Catechism teaches a purification after death for those who die in God’s grace but are still imperfectly purified. Westminster says Scripture acknowledges no third place for souls. Article XXII rejects the Romish doctrine of purgatory. An Orthodox clergy answer rejects purgatory and still prays for the dead.