The ordination of a priest is, as of now, an increasingly rare event in Belgium, a country of Catholic tradition where lately they do not record, however, more than half a dozen each year, but the one celebrated Sunday in Brussels is even more extraordinary and not only because of the youth of the protagonist, David Nas, but above all because of his marital status. The 33-year-old has been married for a decade and is the father of three young children.
Descendant of a family of Turkish emigrants, Nas is the first non-celibate Catholic priest ordained in Belgium since the creation of the Archdiocese of Brussels-Malines in 1559, but – here is the key – not the only one the branch of Christianity to which he belongs, the Chaldean church. The supreme authority is the Pope, but, as in other churches that follow the Eastern Rite, it does accept married men as priests (what it does not foresee is the reverse path, the possibility of a priest getting married). Nevertheless, even taking into account the tradition in which it is framed, the ordination of Nas is a unique case and reflects an opening position of the Belgian Catholic Church regarding the debate on priestly celibacy. The Archbishop of Brussels-Malines, Luc Terlinden, who was at the ceremony, has declared himself in favor of not demanding celibacy from future priests.
Founded according to tradition by Saint Thomas, the Chaldean Catholic Church has its roots in ancient Mesopotamia and is one of the Eastern churches united with Rome. The supreme authority is the Pope, but they celebrate the liturgy according to the Eastern Rite and have their own rules and internal hierarchies, in addition to their own patriarch, Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako, who traveled from Irbil last week ( Iraq) in Brussels to ordain the young priest together with Archbishop Terlinden.
Like many members of the community, Nas’ family had to leave the village where they lived, in southern Turkey, as a result of the religious persecution there. In the late 1980s, they emigrated and sought refuge in Belgium. They were welcomed by the Ursuline sisters and settled in Mechelen, where Nas, the son of the family, was born. In 2013 he got married and a couple of years later he entered the seminary of John XXIII in Louvain. In the meantime, she has had three children: Luka, Maria and Clara. They all attended the joyous ordination of their father as a priest on Saturday, which culminated in applause, acclamations and songs typical of Eastern churches. “I don’t feel special”, affirms the already pastor, who will be able to celebrate mass according to both rites. “Eastern Christians are so persecuted that they have to flee and now they are represented in the West, it will be an enrichment for the Church in Belgium”, declared Nas on public television RTBF. He believes that his case can inspire other men of the Western Church. “I think it would be good,” he says.
For the primate of the Catholic Church in Belgium, the Presbyterian ordination of a married man was the first, but it should not be the last. “Personally, I wish it, because I think it would enrich the life of the Church. They are not a competition for unmarried priests, because I think there will always be, but it is richer to have priests who contribute this peculiarity”, affirms, for his part, Terlinden. In several interviews granted since he was appointed archbishop by Pope Francis in June 2023, he has already defended the fact of learning from the experience of the Eastern churches and other open-minded positions, such as giving more space and responsibility to women in the ‘ Church.
Within the Chaldean Church itself, married priests are a rarity. However, the patriarch of Baghdad has long been actively advocating that they resort to this option, which is not a cause of theological dispute within the Eastern Rite, to alleviate the fall in vocations and the consequences of the religious persecution they suffer , since there are not enough Chaldean priests to serve all the communities that are scattered around the world due to migration. “It is always good to remember that priestly celibacy is not a dogma of faith and that decisions are always made with the salvation of souls as the last criterion”, defended Cardinal Sako a few years ago in a letter to the bishops of the Chaldean communities in exile
