Yes. Orthodox priests can be married, but there’s a catch: they have to marry before ordination.
If a man wants to serve as a married parish priest, he needs to get married first, then get ordained. Once he’s ordained, that window closes. A single man who becomes a priest can’t marry afterward and continue serving as a parish priest. This isn’t arbitrary. It comes from the Church’s ancient understanding of priesthood, marriage, and pastoral life.
The Rule and Why It Exists
The pattern is straightforward. Married men can be ordained to the diaconate and priesthood. Men already ordained while single are expected to remain celibate if they continue in parish ministry. This goes back to the early Church’s reading of Scripture and the development of canonical practice over centuries.
St. Paul writes that a bishop (and by extension, a priest) should be “the husband of one wife” and manage his household well. The Church took this seriously. If a man is married when he’s ordained, his wife and family become part of his pastoral reality. The priest’s wife (we call her a presvytera in the Antiochian tradition) often shares in parish life. She’s not ordained, but she’s not just “the priest’s wife” either. She and her husband serve the parish together.
But if a man is single at ordination, the Church expects him to stay that way. Why? Because ordination changes something fundamental about a man’s life and calling. The Church doesn’t want a newly ordained priest deciding six months later that celibacy is too hard and going looking for a wife. That’s not how we understand vocation.
What About Bishops?
Bishops are different. They’re almost always celibate, usually monks. A married man isn’t normally eligible to become a bishop. This is the universal Orthodox practice today, and it has been for centuries.
The reasoning is practical and theological. A bishop’s responsibilities are enormous. He oversees multiple parishes, ordains clergy, resolves disputes, travels constantly. The Church believes this requires a man who can give himself wholly to the episcopal office without the responsibilities of a wife and children. Monastics, who’ve already embraced celibacy and a life of prayer, are the natural pool for bishops.
There were some married bishops in the very early Church, but even then they often lived separately from their wives after consecration. The modern discipline is clear: bishops are celibate.
Can a Widowed Priest Remarry?
No. If a priest’s wife dies, he’s expected to remain a widower if he continues serving as a parish priest. This is tied to that “husband of one wife” principle. The Church interprets this to mean one marriage for a man who serves in the priesthood.
This is hard. I won’t pretend otherwise. A priest who loses his wife faces real grief and loneliness, and he can’t remarry and keep serving in the same way. Some widowed priests eventually retire from active parish ministry. Some continue serving as widowers. It’s one of the sacrifices that comes with ordination, though no one anticipates it when they’re young and newly married.
Is This the Same Everywhere?
Pretty much. The Antiochian Archdiocese, the OCA, the Greek Archdiocese, the other canonical Orthodox jurisdictions all follow the same basic pattern. Married men can be ordained if they’re already married. Bishops are celibate. Widowed priests don’t remarry.
There might be minor variations in how individual bishops handle exceptional cases, but the core discipline is consistent across Orthodoxy. This isn’t an ethnic custom or a jurisdictional quirk. It’s how the Orthodox Church has understood priesthood and marriage for well over a thousand years.
What This Means for You
If you’re a man discerning a call to priesthood, talk to your priest early about these questions. If you think God might be calling you to serve as a married priest, don’t wait around. The Church won’t ordain you and then let you go find a wife.
If you’re already married and sensing a call to priesthood, that’s actually the normal path. Most of parish priests are married. Their wives are part of parish life in ways that matter.
And if you’re single and think God might be calling you to celibate priesthood (maybe eventually to monastic life or the episcopacy), that’s a different but equally valid path. Talk to your priest. Visit a monastery. Don’t rush it.
The Church has maintained this discipline for centuries because it works. It honors both marriage and celibacy as genuine vocations. It protects the integrity of priesthood. And it ensures that men who serve at the altar have already made the fundamental life choices about marriage before they’re ordained.
