Can Deacons Marry after Ordination?

by Admin · Published August 6, 2024 · Updated August 6, 2024

Question: Can an unmarried deacon later marry after ordination? Or re-marry if his wife dies?

Answer: Married men have been admitted to the clergy of the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council in the form of permanent deacons. These men receive the same sacrament of orders that priests and bishops receive and are thus considered clerics. They just do so without the obligation of celibacy that priests and bishops have been held to beginning with the Gregorian reforms of the 11th century.

Can 10031.2 states that unmarried men may become permanent deacons at age 25 and married men at age 35, with the consent of their wives.

So can an unmarried deacon later marry after ordination? Or re-marry if his wife dies? The answer is no. Canon 1087 states that a man may not marry after receiving Holy Orders. In the case of widowed deacons, they may also not re-marry however the Holy See may grant a special dispensation, for example in the case of small children, for a widowed deacon to marry.

Transitional deacons on the other hand can never be married as they are on the path to priesthood.