Ceibacy and property?

[mcliffor]

An Anthro professor made this statement in class the other day when a student asked about priestly celibacy:

“As a Roman Catholic, I know a good deal about the history of celibacy. In it’s first stage, it meant a priest couldn’t marry, and this was so that church property wouldn’t leave the hands of the church. But at the council of Trent, it came to mean not just that a priest couldn’t marry, but that he couldn’t have sex at all.”

What the heck is he talking about??? I think it’s clear he’s trying to justify getting rid of priestly celibacy, but where would he be getting this information from. I had heard the property argument before, but has anyone ever heard the argument that priests were initially allowed to have sex so long as they didn’t marry?

 

[Malcolm_McLean]

An Anthro professor made this statement in class the other day when a student asked about priestly celibacy:

“As a Roman Catholic, I know a good deal about the history of celibacy. In it’s first stage, it meant a priest couldn’t marry, and this was so that church property wouldn’t leave the hands of the church. But at the council of Trent, it came to mean not just that a priest couldn’t marry, but that he couldn’t have sex at all.”

What the heck is he talking about??? I think it’s clear he’s trying to justify getting rid of priestly celibacy, but where would he be getting this information from. I had heard the property argument before, but has anyone ever heard the argument that priests were initially allowed to have sex so long as they didn’t marry?

Trent tightened up on some abuses, one of which was priests taking mistresses. Nicea also banned priests from living with any unrelated female, so this was nothing new.
Extramaritial sex was never allowed, for anyone including priests, but it might have been winked at. As with any organisation, sometimes it is necessary to erect subsidiary rules to make sure the major ones are enforced.

 

[FCEGM]

An Anthro professor made this statement in class the other day when a student asked about priestly celibacy:

“As a Roman Catholic, I know a good deal about the history of celibacy. In it’s first stage, it meant a priest couldn’t marry, and this was so that church property wouldn’t leave the hands of the church. But at the council of Trent, it came to mean not just that a priest couldn’t marry, but that he couldn’t have sex at all.”

What the heck is he talking about??? I think it’s clear he’s trying to justify getting rid of priestly celibacy, but where would he be getting this information from. I had heard the property argument before, but has anyone ever heard the argument that priests were initially allowed to have sex so long as they didn’t marry?

As I’m sure you know, it’s very common for someone to say “As a Roman Catholic, I know. . .”, when in actuality he knows squat. The burden is on him - which as an anthropologist he should know - to provide authoritative Catholic sources to illustrate his point that sexual activity was definitely permitted to priests by the Church (not just tolerated).

This article will help you with the fuller picture if you decide to discuss the topic with him:

catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=7052

 

[VociMike]

An Anthro professor made this statement in class the other day when a student asked about priestly celibacy:

“As a Roman Catholic, I know a good deal about the history of celibacy. In it’s first stage, it meant a priest couldn’t marry, and this was so that church property wouldn’t leave the hands of the church. But at the council of Trent, it came to mean not just that a priest couldn’t marry, but that he couldn’t have sex at all.”

What the heck is he talking about??? I think it’s clear he’s trying to justify getting rid of priestly celibacy, but where would he be getting this information from. I had heard the property argument before, but has anyone ever heard the argument that priests were initially allowed to have sex so long as they didn’t marry?

So throughout history the churches have actually belonged to the priests? Who knew?! And if the priests didn’t have children, why didn’t the property go to their other heirs – brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews? Or why couldn’t the priests just will the churches to the poor?

If I work in a factory and I die, do my children inherit the factory? Do they even inherit my work chair?

 

[mcliffor]

So throughout history the churches have actually belonged to the priests? Who knew?! And if the priests didn’t have children, why didn’t the property go to their other heirs – brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews? Or why couldn’t the priests just will the churches to the poor?

If I work in a factory and I die, do my children inherit the factory? Do they even inherit my work chair?

The problem though is that you can’t send your children off pennyless. A daughter has to come with a dowry for her to compete with other women, and if you own nothing and have nothing to give, then what will her dowry be?