A Catholic priest, Father Goce Koskov, has told Pope Francis that marriage has made him a better person.
Koskov, an Eastern rite and a member of the Byzantine rite Catholic Church in Skopje, accompanied by his wife Gabriela and their four sons met with Pope Francis and local clergy in North Macedonia on Tuesday, according to Yahoo News.
He told the Pontiff that marriage and his family had made him a better cleric.
It is compulsory for Latin church priests to take a vow of celibacy, while Eastern rite churches allow already married men to take the cloth.
“As a priest, God gave me the grace to be able to feel the fatherhood of the body, within my family, and at the same time the spiritual fatherhood, in my parish. I have experienced that these two things are complementary,” Father Kostov told Pope.
He added, “My family helps me in my pastoral work, in my relationships with people, with young people, with children. Without them I would be much poorer.”
The tiny Catholic community in North Macedonia — less than one per cent of the mainly Orthodox Christian population — hails predominantly from the Byzantine Rite.
Pope said, “Your testimony has that ‘Gospel fragrance’ of the first communities.”
“Thank you for having shown the familiar face of the God with us, the God who never ceases to surprise us amid the pots and pans!” the Pope added in conclusion, interrupted by the cry of a baby inside the cathedral.
