Help me explain to someone why priests aren't married

[spacecadet]

I don’t post here much, usually just read, so if this is the wrong forum i apologize

i’m trying to explain to non-Catholics why priests aren’t married? how do you explain this?

 

[nike248]

The whole concept of celibacy is self-sacrifice. In Sacred Scripture it states that some people become eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. What I’ve noticed is that some ministers and pastors realize that priests are actually doing an incredible sacrifice and they want them stop so they (ministers and pastors) don’t feel as guilty. In other words, good luck explaining it to someone who’s been brainwashed by a guy in a suit.

 

[gardenswithkids]

Just as Jesus’ bride is the Church, priests take the Bride of Christ as their own. They imitate Christ in that way. They give themselves fully to the Church, in the spirit of self sacrifice mentioned above. With married clergy, it’s their family that frequently makes many sacrifices. Our celebate priests are not torn between their own family and their parish, because their parish is their family.

We sometimes say someone is “married to their job”, That’s pretty much the case of Catholic priests. But we don’t call it just a job; we call it a vocation. And it’s a beautiful gift from God to the Church.

 

[yochumjy]

You could tell them to read the Bible. After all, St. Paul believes that celabacy is a good thing and pushes it. We simply apply that teaching to our priests. I guess it might depend on if they are Protestants or not for that arguement to be really affective…

John

 

[spacecadet]

thank you for your help,

when i explained that the priest needs to be devoted to the parish and church and a family would interfere the person is asked if it is more of a marraige issue rather than a sexual one? any thoughts on that?

 

[Tietjen]

spacecadet:

I don’t post here much, usually just read, so if this is the wrong forum i apologize. I’m trying to explain to non-Catholics why priests aren’t married? how do you explain this?

There are a number of resources you can use to explain this to a non-Catholic.
Matt 19:12 - “Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”
I Cor 7:8-9 - “Now to the unmarried and to widows, I say: it is a good thing for them to remain as they are, as I do, but if they cannot exercise self-control they should marry, for it is better to marry than to be on fire.”
I Cor 7:32-35 - “I should like you to be free of anxieties. An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy in both body and spirit. A married woman, on the other hand, is anxious about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to impose a restraint upon you, but for the sake of propriety and adherence to the Lord without distraction.”

The Church teaches that celibacy within the Priesthood is a discipline, NOT a doctrine. It may change someday, though I hope not. Should Priest be married with families, their time would have to be shared and they would not be able to fully concentrate on their parish.

The real question is why are there so many non-celibate protestant ministers out there when both Christ and St. Paul encourage celibacy for ministers?
smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_19_4.gif

 

[Kevin_Walker]

spacecadet:

I don’t post here much, usually just read, so if this is the wrong forum i apologize

i’m trying to explain to non-Catholics why priests aren’t married? how do you explain this?

Hi spacecadet:

1.) Please visit the thread: Hey why is it wrong for priests to marry?

2.) Paul wrote advocating celibacy in 1 Cor 7:7, 33-34
Jesus “renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of God” Matt19: 11-12.
Celibacy is also alluded to in Luke 18:28.

The Catholic Church follows the doctrine of Celibacy for its Priests because Jesus and Paul said it was the best way.

Please read: THE APOSTOLIC ORIGINS OF PRIESTLY CELIBACY by Christian Cuchini

Please visit: catholiceducation.org/articles/apologetics/ap0121.html

**“The vow of Celibacy is a matter of keeping one’s word to Christ and the Church. A duty and a proof of the Priest’s inner maturity: it is the expression of his personal dignity.”**Pope John Paul II

The Catholic Priest has removed himself from all worldly temptations and his vow of celibacy is just one proof of that commitment to the spiritual life.

The Catholic Priest further removes himself from material considerations in his service to God by making an open vow of celibacy and keeping that vow.

No married man can prove his commitment to God beyond the ordinary!

 

[mercygate]

spacecadet:

thank you for your help,

when i explained that the priest needs to be devoted to the parish and church and a family would interfere the person is asked if it is more of a marraige issue rather than a sexual one? any thoughts on that?

Neither. It is a spiritual issue. Head him off at the pass by stating right up front that in the early Church there were BOTH married and celibate priests. Cite the Matthew 19:12 and the Pauline passages – especially the one about the man who has a wife “living as though he had none” in support of celibacy. Over time the Church came to see the value of celibacy and made it the rule; the Eastern Church rescinded the requirement although it still holds for bishops, and once ordained, an Orthodox priest cannot marry.

Explain that it is a dicipline based on Scripture and on the lived experience of the Church; it is not a dogma or doctrine.

 

[Tietjen]

spacecadet:

thank you for your help,

when i explained that the priest needs to be devoted to the parish and church and a family would interfere the person is asked if it is more of a marraige issue rather than a sexual one? any thoughts on that?

Sex outside of marriage is a sin. Therefore, “sex” is a marriage issue. It is a gift given from God to married couples and should not be separated. Having said that, the issue of marriage (with or without sex) would still interfere with the Priest’s responsibility to the parish. His time would have to be divided between responsibilities to his wife and time with God and His Church.

 

[kage_ar]

Of course, there ARE married priests in the Eastern Rite, also over here in the west - converted ministers who are already married may petetion to become ordained as a Priest in the Latin Rite Catholic Church (we have one such married priest just up the road!). It is not common, but, it does happen…

 

[spacecadet]

thank you all for your help
i hope to visit here more often
God Bless

 

[Gabriel_Gale]

spacecadet:

I don’t post here much, usually just read, so if this is the wrong forum i apologize

i’m trying to explain to non-Catholics why priests aren’t married? how do you explain this?

I prefer the Socratic method.

So, is there any job which would be unfair or too much of a burden for a family. For example, are you limited as a father if your career requires 100 hour work weeks for several years?

 

[mercygate]

Tietjen:

Sex outside of marriage is a sin. Therefore, “sex” is a marriage issue. It is a gift given from God to married couples and should not be separated. Having said that, the issue of marriage (with or without sex) would still interfere with the Priest’s responsibility to the parish. His time would have to be divided between responsibilities to his wife and time with God and His Church.

The “job description” justification for celibacy simply doesn’t hold water and is only secondary. The real significance of celibacy lies in the model of Jesus’ own life, in his statement that those who follow him must leave everything (Mt. 19:19), in his statement about becoming “eunuchs for the Kingdom” (Mt. 19:12), and in the witness of celibacy to the Resurrection (Mt 22:30, Mk 12:25, Lk 20:35). Moreover, the person who is celibate (especially a virgin) retains in his life the one-on-one singleness of being consecrated wholly, body and soul, to God alone. That is a kind of marriage and it cannot happen in the same way when a priest has a wife.

 

[laadan]

Here are the requirements for an Overseer (bishop) 1 Tim 3:1-7

There is no biblical basis for celebacy. It was made the norm by Gregory VII (Hildebrand) in 1079.

 

[Pentecost2005]

Gabriel Gale:

So, is there any job which would be unfair or too much of a burden for a family. For example, are you limited as a father if your career requires 100 hour work weeks for several years?

Well, let’s see… a 100-hour work week leaves 68 hours, or an average of less than 10 hours per day. Does the 100-hour work week include getting ready for work, commuting there and back, and winding-down time? Assume it does. Ten hours per day NOT working… assume at least 6 hours of sleep, hopefully 8. That leaves 2-4 hours per day to be a father.

That’s not a lot of time. Not a lot of time to spend with your children, not a lot of time to spend alone with your wife, not a lot of time to spend by yourself in meditative solitude.

 

[Pentecost2005]

laadan:

Here are the requirements for an Overseer (bishop) 1 Tim 3:1-7

There is no biblical basis for celebacy. It was made the norm by Gregory VII (Hildebrand) in 1079.

That begs the question, at best.

 

[laadan]

Pentecost2005:

That begs the question, at best.

I’m sorry, but I don’t understand. Will you explain your statement, please?

 

[RocketScientist]

I’d recommend Cardinal Stickler’s Book . Priests in the early Church were expected to practice continence, that is, they had to completely abstain from sex after ordination.

The statement in 1 Timothy, that a bishop must be faithful to his one wife, is often misinterpreted as meaning a bishop ought to be married. Actually, the intent is that he not have more than one wife. Was this a prohibition against polygamy? No, that was already forbidden to all Christians. Was it a prohibition against divorce and remarriage? No, again, that was already prohibited, and back then all Christians understood it to be prohibited. It was actually a prohibition against allowing a man who was widowed and remarried from becoming a bishop.

Why the prohibition? Well, the Cardinal explains that to have remarried after being widowed was evidence that continence would be a difficult lifestyle choice for such a person.

He also explains that the Council of Elvira, in approximately the year 305, adopted continence in canon law. He argues further that this couldn’t have just been adopted out of the blue. It had to have been widely understood to have been the longstanding tradition of the Church, or there would have been widespread rebellion among the priests.

By the tenth or eleventh century, the Church was finding more noncompliance with the continence requirement, in part, I think, due to widespread ignorance. At the same time, monasterries were growing, which provided a pool of never married men who could become priests, so they eventually decided against allowing married men to become priests.

If you were hoping for a short answer

Sacred Tradition!

although that won’t carry a lot of weight with Protestants. And pardon me for shouting, I get excited sometimes.

 

[mercygate]

laadan:

Here are the requirements for an Overseer (bishop) 1 Tim 3:1-7

There is no biblical basis for celebacy. It was made the norm by Gregory VII (Hildebrand) in 1079.

Get a grip, laadan! In the New Testament and in the early Church there were both married and celibate priests. The first ecumenical legislation on clerical continence was made at the Council of Nicea in 326. The Lord himself counsels celibacy (not demands, but counsels – for the sake of the kingdom of heaven). And Paul affirms its superiority to marriage.

Mt. 19:11-12

“Not all men can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it.”

ICor 7:

1 Now concerning the matters about which you wrote. It is well for a man not to touch a woman.

7 I wish that all were as I myself am. (celibate)

26: I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord;

In support of the early practice that presbyters lived in continence:

29: let those who have wives live as though they had none

33-35 . . . the married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman or girl is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

The Church views celibacy as a a gift for the few, a sign of the Resurrection:

For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. (Mt. 22:30. Also Mk 12:25, Lk 20:35)

 

[laadan]

mercygate:

Get a grip, laadan! In the New Testament and in the early Church there were both married and celibate priests. The first ecumenical legislation on clerical continence was made at the Council of Nicea in 326. The Lord himself counsels celibacy (not demands, but counsels – for the sake of the kingdom of heaven). And Paul affirms its superiority to marriage.

So 1 Tim 3:1-7 is not about the qualifications of bishops?