Ex-Anglican With Wife, Children to Be Ordained as Catholic Priest

A former Anglican priest with a wife and four children will be ordained a Roman Catholic priest today by the Archdiocese of New York.

Trevor Nicholls, 47, will be ordained by Cardinal John O’Connor at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers.

Unlike most Christian denominations, the Roman Catholic Church, with few exceptions, insists that its priests be single and celibate. But 10 years ago, the Vatican said American bishops could ordain some Anglican or Episcopalian priests who were married and who had left their churches and converted to Catholicism.

Since then, more than 50 married converts have been ordained as Roman Catholic priests in the United States, the archdiocese said. Several had left their churches because they were opposed to liberal reforms, such as the ordination of women.

Nicholls teaches at a Catholic high school in Kingston, north of New York City. Archdiocesan officials said they were not sure when he left the Anglican Church, or the Church of England, which is related to the Episcopal Church in the United States.