Is Marriage Inferior To Religious Life

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As for the quote you listed from Pope Pius XII
gracepoole said:
Pope Pius XII Sacra Virginitas:
This doctrine of the excellence of virginity and of celibacy and of their superiority over the married state was, as We have already said, revealed by our Divine Redeemer and by the Apostle of the Gentiles; so too, it was solemnly defined as a dogma of divine faith by the holy council of Trent,[57] and explained in the same way by all the holy Fathers and Doctors of the Church. Finally, We and Our Predecessors have often expounded it and earnestly advocated it whenever occasion offered. But recent attacks on this traditional doctrine of the Church, the danger they constitute, and the harm they do to the souls of the faithful lead Us, in fulfillment of the duties of Our charge, to take up the matter once again in this Encyclical Letter, and to reprove these errors which are so often propounded under a specious appearance of truth.
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I get it. Celibacy is attacked unfairly. It would be a great tragedy to see the Catholic Church give up celibacy for all clergy and other consecrated individuals. Honestly, I often think my life would be happier if this charism was my gift and circumstances. It’s not.

With that being said, finding a well thought out slowly implemented middle ground for clergy in Catholic church regarding celibacy and marriage would do wonders IMHO. I honestly think it would leave the the attacks against celibacy baseless and guarantee celibacy as a tradition in the Catholic church forever.
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And this from VII?
Let them recognize, however, the surpassing excellence of virginity consecrated to Christ, so that with a maturely deliberate and generous choice they may consecrate themselves to the Lord by a complete gift of body and soul.
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It seems clear and unquestionable that the Church recognizes that the virginal consecrated state is supremely satisfying to God. Not everyone is called to it and we can be very holy and pleasing to God in fulfilling whatever vocation to which He’s called us. But I don’t see why the priesthood or the Church’s teachings on it should be changed.
 
What teachings?

From Vatican II

“ Indeed, it (i.e. celibacy) is not demanded by the very nature of the priesthood, as is apparent from the practice of the early Church(35) and from the traditions of the Eastern Churches .”

Section 16 of Vatican II’s Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priest
(Celibacy is to be embraced and esteemed as a gift). Perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, commended by Christ the Lord(33) and through the course of time as well as in our own days freely accepted and observed in a praiseworthy manner by many of the faithful, is held by the Church to be of great value in a special manner for the priestly life. It is at the same time a sign and a stimulus for pastoral charity and a special source of spiritual fecundity in the world.(34) Indeed, it is not demanded by the very nature of the priesthood, as is apparent from the practice of the early Church(35) and from the traditions of the Eastern Churches .
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http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651207_presbyterorum-ordinis_en.html
 
Yes, celibacy in the priesthood is a discipline and therefore can be altered. But why? Men already are capable of being married deacons. And what would changing this rule have to do with the question at the heart of this thread?
 
godisgood77 said:
True.

And married people and parents make a lot of sacrifices for God and it counts for something too
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The vows religious make are perpetual on top of their daily lives which are more turned to God.
 
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Just to sum things up here.
  1. Marriage is good (some early heretics claimed that if virginity is superior than marriage is “bad”; this is not the case). The state of virginity (or continence) for the sake of the Kingdom is better.
  2. This is dogma of “divine faith”. This is a key teaching of the faith, and to not adhere to it is so serious that deliberate and informed rejection renders one not a Catholic but a heretic.
  3. An individual’s degree of holiness is not tied to their state in life. A continent widow can be more holy than a sacred virgin and a married person may be more holy than a pope. Moral holiness is given great aid in growth when an individual is in the path/state that is more suited to him personally. The state of virginity for the sake of the Kingdom was created by the Lord to make it more easy for those who belong to it to grow in moral holiness because that is the one thing its members are supposed to put their concentrated efforts on. This does not mean those in other states cannot achieve holiness, but it is harder to grow in moral holiness because by its nature marriage offers challenges and an environment that makes it much easier to be distracted from the “one thing”.
–Mother Therese, OCV, JCL
Specializing in theology and law of consecrated life.
This communication does not establish a canon lawyer-client relationship.
 
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VanitasVanitatum said:
The vows religious make are perpetual on top of their daily lives which are more turned to God.
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The vows a married person makes are perpetual and on top of their daily lives and are can be tuned to God as much as a religious
 
godisgood77 said:
The vows a married person makes are perpetual and on top of their daily lives and are can be tuned to God as much as a religious
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The vows of marriage are not sacrifices in the way the vows of a religious are and married people have obligations in the world that hinder them.
 
Diaconia said:
No, it’s not inferior, in fact both Consecrated Life and Sacred Orders presupposes Matrimony.

No children, no vocations.

Deacon Christopher
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Then can you explain all of the citations from Vatican II and the Council of Trent, etc. on this thread that clearly state that consecrated virginity is superior to marriage?
 
I’ve considered this question a lot, as someone who is discerning priesthood and religious life vs. marriage.
In my honest opinion, and based on the Scriptures and teachings of the saints, it truly does seem to me to be true to say that religious celibacy, and in particular the priesthood, is a higher state than marriage. It seems to me that those who say “No, both are important, no one is better than the other” are saying so out of fear of offending or hurting someone’s feelings.
Read 1 Corinthians 7 and tell me I’m wrong.

On a subjective basis, someone who has no supernatural calling to religious celibacy is better off in marriage, but speaking generally, religious celibacy is superior.
 
St John Paul 2 explores this in depth in Theology of the Body and the answer is no, marriage is not inferior to religious life.
 
OurLadyofSorrows said:
No it doesnt. Both vocations are equally as important.
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Ditto. If marriage were somehow inferior to religious life, God wouldn’t have paired Adam and Eve together and told them to multiply and fill the earth. That was the first official marriage sanctioned by God.
 
JanR said:
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OurLadyofSorrows:
No it doesnt. Both vocations are equally as important.
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Ditto. If marriage were somehow inferior to religious life, God wouldn’t have paired Adam and Eve together and told them to multiply and fill the earth. That was the first official marriage sanctioned by God.
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yes
Marriage is the primordial sacrament.
Without marriage there would be no such thing as a vocation, because humanity wouldn’t exist.
 
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sealabeag said:
religious celibacy is superior.
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I’m sorry, but I just don’t understand it. Why must one be considered “superior” to the other.

Man and wife cooperate with God to create new life. How on earth could the vocation of marriage be inferior? If everyone were celibate the human race would cease to exist. Does God not want to give life to new human beings?
 
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Virginity is better than marriage, however good. … Celibacy is … an imitation of the angels. Therefore, virginity is as much more honorable than marriage, as the angel is higher than man. But why do I say angel? Christ, Himself, is the glory of virginity.
  • St. John Chrysostom, Homily 19 on First Corinthians, NPNF, s. 1, v. 12, pp. 248–262.
 
“If any one saith, that the marriage state is to be placed above the state of virginity, or of celibacy, and that it is not better and more blessed to remain in virginity, or in celibacy, than to be united in matrimony; let him be anathema.” Council of Trent.
 
Celibacy is more blessed or “better” in a specific sense. Virginity and celibacy signify that the bond with Christ is supreme to any other human bonds–even a sacramental one. Where marriage is only for this world that is passing away (there is no marriage in heaven), virginity and celibacy anticipate the supremely blessed heavenly state. As a practical matter, a single person has more time for spiritual pursuits, prayer, and other forms of pastoral and charitable service.

But Christian perfection can be achieved in either state. And simply being in either state is no guarantee of greater merit–it’s what you do with your state in life that counts.
 
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Genesis315 said:
Celibacy is more blessed or “better” in a specific sense. Virginity and celibacy signify that the bond with Christ is supreme to any other human bonds–even a sacramental one. Where marriage is only for this world that is passing away (there is no marriage in heaven), virginity and celibacy anticipate the supremely blessed heavenly state.
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But does the marriage bond necessarily diminish one’s bond to Christ? Yes, of course the bond with Christ is supreme, but what you’ve written here seems to imply that a married person’s supreme bond to Christ is less than an unmarried person’s. If marriage somehow lessened one’s relationship with God, why did God Himself institute it?
Genesis315 said:
As a practical matter, a single person has more time for spiritual pursuits, prayer, and other forms of pastoral and charitable service.
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I do agree, but is it not possible that one can offer their whole life/work to God as a prayer and be focused on Him always?

I just don’t understand why it’s necessary to say one is “superior” to the other. Why does that even need to be said?
 
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sealabeag said:
Virginity is better than marriage, however good. … Celibacy is … an imitation of the angels. Therefore, virginity is as much more honorable than marriage, as the angel is higher than man. But why do I say angel? Christ, Himself, is the glory of virginity.
  • St. John Chrysostom, Homily 19 on First Corinthians, NPNF, s. 1, v. 12, pp. 248–262.
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We are NOT angels, and neither was Christ when he became human. Humans were never meant to be angels. Angels are entirely different beings.

If some feel called to virginity or celibacy, that’s fine. But don’t make distinctions between the “holiness” of one divine calling over another. God calls us all to different vocations in life, marriage being only one of them.

i don’t like terms such as “inferior” vs “superior”. They don’t apply, here, and those terms, in any event, are judgmental.
 
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