As a young priest Benedict XVI ‘called for the Church to investigate priestly celibacy’

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As a young priest, Pope Benedict put his name to a document calling for the Church to seriously investigate the obligation to priestly celibacy.
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The memorandum, which was sent to the German bishops reads: “Our considerations regard the necessity of a serious investigation and a differentiated inspection of the law of celibacy of the Latin Church for Germany and the whole of the universal Church.”
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The document’s release coincides with a renewed debate on priestly celibacy after prominent German politicians called for the Church to change the teaching on priestly celibacy in the face of a serious lack of priests.
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catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2011/01/28/as-a-young-priest-benedict-xvi-%E2%80%98called-for-the-church-to-investigate-priestly-celibacy%E2%80%99/

this really shocked me when I read it this morning
 
So? As a young nun, Mother Angelica wore 60’s pseudo habits that looked more like secular Goodwill rejects too. Saint Augustine was a playboy, St. Francis of Assissi was a spoiled scion of a local oligarch, St. Paul was accomplice to murders…

And you’re shocked and horrified that Benedict once wondered if the need for priestly celibacy had passed? :confused:
 
manualman said:
So? As a young nun, Mother Angelica wore 60’s pseudo habits that looked more like secular Goodwill rejects too. Saint Augustine was a playboy, St. Francis of Assissi was a spoiled scion of a local oligarch, St. Paul was accomplice to murders…

And you’re shocked and horrified that Benedict once wondered if the need for priestly celibacy had passed? :confused:
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so you are saying he has had a change of heart
 
You’re reading the newspapers take on the document. It’s quite possible the intent was to fortify the Church’s position on priestly celibacy.
 
qui_est_ce said:
You’re reading the newspapers take on the document. It’s quite possible the intent was to fortify the Church’s position on priestly celibacy.
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good point it would be nice to see the original document
 
catholictiger said:
so you are saying he has had a change of heart
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Priestly celibacy is a discipline, not a doctrine. It is ALWAYS open for discussion. It was a topic of the Bishops synod in 2005 too. That synod was called by the Pope. It has nothing to do with a change of heart.

Remember that the Pope has been hugely active in the effort to bring Anglican priests and Bishops, many of whom are married into the Church. To do that involves an open heart regarding the topic of priestly celibacy.
 
Corki said:
Priestly celibacy is a discipline, not a doctrine. It is ALWAYS open for discussion. It was a topic of the Bishops synod in 2005 too. That synod was called by the Pope. It has nothing to do with a change of heart.

Remember that the Pope has been hugely active in the effort to bring Anglican priests and Bishops, many of whom are married into the Church. To do that involves an open heart regarding the topic of priestly celibacy.
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so far from the post it seems like this article is making it worse then it seems.
 
catholictiger said:
so you are saying he has had a change of heart
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I don’t know his heart then or now. I DO know that Benedict as either Cardinal or pope has said or written nothing to suggest a move to the Eastern practice of potentially married priests for the Latin rite (unless you count the clearly described charitable exceptions of certain protestant married clergy who have converted).
 
catholictiger said:
good point it would be nice to see the original document
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It will be too complicated for the average person to read, probably written in German. And then of course, people with an agenda will want to put a spin on it. 😦

From the article:

According to the Sueddeutsche, the document said if there were no such investigation, the bishops’ conference would “awaken the impression that it did not believe in the strength of the Gospel recommendation of a celibate life for the sake of heaven, but rather only in the power of a formal authority”.
 
i posted this on my facebook as well and one of my transitional deacon friends posted this
I’d like to read the document that Ratzinger signed so as to make a personal judgment rather than trust what this news group says that it says. The problem is that most news people don’t always grasp the intricacies of theological writings,… so they might be reading more into it than is there. From the three quotes they gave, I didn’t see anything particularly incriminating, but that is because with other qualifications it may have been a justifiable issue to raise. All of that being said, it is true that in his younger days Ratzinger was known to be more of a progressive but has since matured in his thinking and leaned more toward conservatism.
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As with all disciplines, the issue is one we really should dust off and examine once in a while to ensure it is in keeping with the needs of the Church today.

This particular document was written in 1970. Even though the permanent diaconate had been reestablished, there would have still been no married clergy to speak of in the Latin Rite. The suggestion that married clergy could contribute somehow to the whole ministry is hardly alien. We have centuries of observance in the Eastern Rites and among Protestants and a married clergy seems to be working out quite well among them.

Of course, times have changed dramatically since it was written. We now have married clergy in the Latin Rite in the form of countless permanent deacons and the occasional Protestant converts. Thus, the need for married clergy should be reassessed yet again. Who knows? Maybe the Church will discern that we didn’t need married clergy after all.
 
since the news media has a dismal batting record in accurately reporting anything the pope says today, it is hardly likely they are accurate in quoting something he said decades ago

and if he did, as many priests and bishops have done, recommend studying the issue of celibacy, why in God’s green earth would anyone be shocked by that? do you honestly think it would be better if the Church ceased to teach on the topic?

the only thing more predictable than the inanity of the MSM in reporting on matters to do with the pope, is the knee-jerk reactions of people who believe everything they read and labor to put it in the worst possible light. chill, folks
 
Is this even an issue? It’s a topic that’s free for debate.
 
AdvanceAlways said:
Is this even an issue? It’s a topic that’s free for debate.
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its kinda an issue and yes its up for debate but its been one of those thigns that we Catholics thought would never change so this article came out was kinda surprising
 
catholictiger said:
its kinda an issue and yes its up for debate but its been one of those thigns that we Catholics thought would never change so this article came out was kinda surprising
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Well, I think that’s a bit of a sweeping statement. I’ve heard it discussed among Catholics for many years.
 
Benedict is a true intellectual, who is all for deep study and investigation. Why is anybody shocked? I don’t think he shows any sign of wanting to change the stance on celibacy as acting Pope, which makes it actually interesting because it means he has been interested in the topic, studied it, and from all appearences come out on the side off keeping celibacy.
As far as him being active in welcoming married Anglican priests, that was already happening before he was Pope, and it is great for him to allow this men to take leadership roles in the Church as their converted hearts are a powerful testimony. It is a different situation than celibacy for Catholic men taking new vows.
 
catholictiger said:
its kinda an issue and yes its up for debate but its been one of those thigns that we Catholics thought would never change so this article came out was kinda surprising
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Meh. Those Catholics would be wrong. Now if the topic were female priests, then they would be correct. Celibacy can change.
 
I don’t know how old you are, but I’m old enough to look back 20 or 30 years ago and just shake my head at the things I once believed.

Human beings are always in a state of change, thank God. You can’t hold anyone to what they believed 30, 40 or more years ago. The Apostle Paul was consenting in the death of Christians before he was called. Should he have been held to that? The Apostle Peter actually denied Christ.

Gimme a break.
 
Clerical Celibacy is a discipline of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, as far as I know the Latin RIte is the only one that forbids priests being married.

EDIT: Thanks for the correction, I meant discipline
 
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