Get Rid of the Celibacy Requirement

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There was abuse in my own family of origin. One of my siblings reported the abuse to our then-church minister, & he didn’t believe us. We went to live with our other parent by court order, & after about a year, the parent who’d lost custody tried to contact us through this same minister - despite having been under court order to leave us alone.

This parent had confessed to some of the abuse, so this minister now was trying to tell us to forgive & forget. This after disbelieving our report, failing to report the abuse, & essentially siding with the abuser both times - now trying to make us reconcile with him.

I don’t know if this man was simplistic, thinking that that was all that was needed to repair the wounds of the abuse, if he was trying to be merciful at least in his own mind, if he was unequipped to handle the situation, if he wanted to keep the whole matter as hushed as possible, if he was just plain stupid, or some combination thereof, but it was a fail.

Now we have since forgiven this parent, but it makes me wonder what are the circumstances in how this is all handled. People hurt when these things happen in ways others can’t understand. Marriage clearly doesn’t stop some from sexual sin. But I have to wonder how many of these priests are equipped/trained to handle these kinds of incidents. How much is a coverup…

It just boggles the mind that after all these years, people haven’t learned, but they better - & soon. I can imagine some people may start to think of taking matters into their own hands like that guy did when he bought the Chik-Fil-A sandwiches & went in to shoot people. People are getting horrified at what priests/bishops have done - & I’ve no doubt that some will lump them all in the guilty pile whether guilty or not. The time is now to get the Church back where it belongs. It’s unthinkable, but if someone’s desperate enough, with all that’s coming to light…

The Church is being assaulted on all fronts…
 
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Again, I know of three case of underage sexual contact (teen girls) in a Protestant Church, none of which was reported, and all by married men. Now my experience my be anecdotal, but as there is no statistical evidence that combines any Church except the Catholic Church, that is all I can depend on.
 
Interesting question, but if the pool you have to pick from consists very largely of homosexual men and men with psychosexual problems, what do you do then? Close all the seminaries and tell the people, “Sorry but we have no priests?”
 
billsannie said:
but if the pool you have to pick from consists very largely of homosexual men and men with psychosexual problems,
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That is an “if” that is fantasy, and not true. You might as well ask what if all males were wiped out.
 
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You took my words out of context. Please post the entire quote next time, otherwise it looks like you are deliberately misrepresenting what I said. I said that there have been questions posed on Catholic Answers Forum about why Protestantism has not disappeared and appears to be successful. I argued that perhaps the model of their clergy is a factor. Celibacy is a discipline. It can be changed. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Matthew 20:24-26

And when the [other] ten heard this, they were resentful and angry with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles have absolute power and lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them [tyrannizing them]. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,
 
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We’ll have to agree to disagree. I’m a convert. I have no emotional investment in maintaining an all celibate priesthood. Priests marry in Protestantism and the Orthodox and Eastern rites have celibate and married clergy. The idea that it is antithetical to the western church to have married clergy is an alien concept to me. Peace!
 
Do you think willingness to be celibate is a psycho-sexual problem? Whether yes or no, what else to consider psycho-sexual problems?
 
Sarcelle said:
Marriage is no guarantee of chastity.

If a man can not contain himself sexually with a woman who he then marries, what makes you so sure that he wouldn’t be able to contain himself with women not his wife?

Adultery does exist after all.
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Of course adultery is not a guarantee of chastity for everyone, but it may be a current solution for some who are in love. Ordinarily, when a man spends a long time in emotional loneliness, the temptation is much stronger than when he has a woman he loves. When a man has a woman he loves and with whom he lives, if he is tempted, he can easily direct his desires to his wife. This is not the case of a single man whose heart is burning with desire for a feminine presence.
 
Ten deacons in one parish?! Wow.
Many, perhaps most, dioceses around the world have no permanent deacons at all. The vast majority of deacons are found in the US and Italy.
 
I find too many contradictions in the Church today and that makes me very uncomfortable. For example, Lutheran pastors, or Anglican priests who are married and convert, can be ordained Catholic priests, but one forbids to ordain permanent deacons who are married !
 
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twf said:
Ten deacons in one parish?! Wow.
Many, perhaps most, dioceses around the world have no permanent deacons at all. The vast majority of deacons are found in the US and Italy.
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Yes, true that there are a large number of permanent deacons in the U.S. Is it because we have a shortage of priests here and the priests need the help? I was surprised at the ten deacons in my present parish here in Idaho, that’s the most I’ve ever seen. But they really do come in quite helpful with all the different ministries. In my last parish in San Diego before moving here, there were three and another one in formation. And then I have a friend in Uganda who says that permanent deacons are rare there. But their seminaries are crowded. A lot of priests coming out of African countries, also from the Philippines.
 
I know of at least two permanent deacons who have been ordained and both are married and are grandfathers.

We could ordain a lot more married deacons.
 
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This all sounds good on paper but when the human element hits other problems will arise.
 
Being continent as a single person is also demanded of single laity and not just priests. There is one difference though. At least a priest knows before being ordained that celibacy is required of him. The single lay person often times is celibate against his or her will. However chastity is still expected of him or her. So is why is this expectation okay for laity but not okay for priests?

Is being continent as a single person a psycho sexual problem as well?
 
Not in the least. If you are celibate because you are single, or because you have a calling to be so, that is good and very commendable. If you are celibate because you have a hatred or fear of the opposite gender, or of sex in general, or because your sexuality is that of a child or teenager, then you have a problem and likely shouldn’t be a priest.
 
Not necessarily. The US may have a priest shortage compared to previous decades, but you are rich in priests compared to parts of the world. There is approximately one priest per two thousand faithful in the US. In many Latin American countries its more like one priest per ten thousand faithful.
 
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