![Married Man Becomes Ordained Priest in Danbury](http://townsquare.media/site/677/files/2020/03/melkite1.jpeg?w=980&q=75)
Married Man Becomes Ordained Priest in Danbury
Father Thomas Davis, Danbury's newest ordained priest is married with three adult children.
Davis was ordained on December 1, 2019 at St. Ann Melkite Catholic Church in Danbury. During his interview with the Newtown Bee, Davis explained how he was drawn to the ancient Eastern traditions of Catholicism which are not widely known.
Most of the world's Catholics are considered Roman Catholics but Eastern Catholic Churches do exist like St. Ann Melkite Catholic Church in Danbury. Melkite Catholics began arriving in the United States in the early years of the 20th century.
The church's liturgy is identical to the Orthodox Churches in Europe. Melkite Churches consist of many different groups and one of those groups is called the Byzantine which was the Eastern part of the Roman Empire. There are now two of these types of churches in Danbury. They are St. Nicholas and St. Ann and both of these churches have a tradition of married clergy.
Married clergy must be married before becoming an ordained priest and are not allowed to become married after ordination. Father Davis told the Newtown Bee that a Bishop from St. Ann asked him directly if he would consider becoming a priest and take over as pastor at St. Ann's.
Tom Davis and his wife needed to pray for months before they were able to make such an important decision. On December 1, 2019, Tom Davis who is now called Father Thomas Davis was officially ordained as a priest at St. Ann Melkite Church in Danbury when he said,
You don't enter the priesthood as a married man alone, you enter it with your wife.
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