Time to elimate clerical celibacy?

[TaylorDonBarret]

Argument against it (1): marriage requires a lot of time and effort. being a Priest requires a lot of time and effort. therefore, one cannot be both married and a Priest and give both the amount of time and effort each of them require.

Argument against it (2): God is calling men to be Priests and God provides all the grace they need in order to fulfill their vocation as a celibate Priest. therefore, the Priestly shortage is not effected by celibacy but by an unwillingness on the part of men to hear and answer the call of God on their life.

On the Contrary…

Response to argument (1): yes, being a Priest requires a lot of time and effort. but so do many professions. for example, being an obstetrician or neurosurgeon (or a policeman or a teacher). yet we fully realize that such people can be both excellent at their profession and excellent as a husband and father as well. the fact it, every married man must work a job. this takes time and effort. while being a Priest may require a bit more time and effort than some professions (though being a Priest requires less time and effort than some other professions, too), nonetheless, it is proven everyday around the world in Eastern Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant churches just how amazingly, brilliantly, wonderfully effective married Priests and Pastors can be.

Response to argument (2): yes, God calls men and gives them the grace they need to fulfill their calling. yes, the problem is a lack of willingness on the part of men to hear and answer this call. at the same time, however, we live in a highly sexualized society in which men are taught from a very young age that happiness comes from sexual fulfillment - and thus, there is a certain level of “invincible ignorance” prevalent in society today that prevents men from even considering the idea of Priesthood (despite how strongly God may call them). and it is actually a fact that happiness does come from sexual fulfillment in marriage (key word: “in marriage”). God created man and said “it is not good for him to be alone.” man was designed for woman, and woman for man. while there are certain benefits to Priestly celibacy, there are other benefits to married Priests (such as the ability to speak with personal knowledge and familiarity on matters of love in marriage, raising children, etc.).

 

[R_H_Benson]

Argument against it (2): God is calling men to be Priests and God provides all the grace they need in order to fulfill their vocation as a celibate Priest. therefore, the Priestly shortage is not effected by celibacy but by an unwillingness on the part of men to hear and answer the call of God on their life.

Response to argument (2): yes, God calls men and gives them the grace they need to fulfill their calling. yes, the problem is a lack of willingness on the part of men to hear and answer this call. at the same time, however, we live in a highly sexualized society in which men are taught from a very young age that happiness comes from sexual fulfillment - and thus, there is a certain level of “invincible ignorance” prevalent in society today that prevents men from even considering the idea of Priesthood (despite how strongly God may call them). and it is actually a fact that happiness does come from sexual fulfillment in marriage (key word: “in marriage”). God created man and said “it is not good for him to be alone.” man was designed for woman, and woman for man. while there are certain benefits to Priestly celibacy, there are other benefits to married Priests (such as the ability to speak with personal knowledge and familiarity on matters of love in marriage, raising children, etc.).

The response to argument 2 does not refute the argument. God is calling men to the priesthood and is offering them all the graces necessary to fulfill their vocation, including the grace to live in celibacy. We cannot continue to cave to the times. Men have always felt desirous of women. The “over-sexualization” of modern society is precisely the reason we need strong, holy men to answer the call to the priesthood. Men willing to deny themselves everything and take up the Cross of Jesus Christ. He WILL and IS giving men the grace to live their priesthood in celibacy.

 

[godisgood77]

I would have no issue opening up the priesthood to married men. Many Catholic Churches already have married priests and the Latin Rite Church used to have married priests - including some of the original apostles. The idea that God only calls celibate men to the priesthood is not supported by the facts of history… in fact quite the contrary is true.

Bottom line, the priesthood should still accept celibacy as an option for the priesthood, but in my opinion it should not be the litmus test for whether or not a man is being called to the priesthood.

 

[edwest211]

The date on the calendar means nothing.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/c...c_20111121_levada-celibacy-priesthood_en.html

 

[Spyridon]

Should we eliminate the celibate Priesthood? Absolutely not.

Should we adopt the practice already in use amongst Anglican Catholic and various Eastern Catholic Churches who are in full communion with Rome? As in should we ordain married men to the Roman Priesthood? Absolutely yes.

The whole idea that married priests are inadequate or would cause tension with celibate priests is hysterical nonsense. Married and celibate Priests function in wondrous harmony among hundreds of millions of Eastern Christians.

I am 100% supportive of Married Roman Priests, and I get the sense the Holy Father is too.

The only reason he hasn’t instituted a change is because of the far right element in the Church who resist any change no matter how pragmatic, reasonable, and traditional it may be.

Ask yourself this? What would be better and more conducive to spreading the Gospel and Gods Church: the current number of Priests in the Catholic Church, about 415,000 - of which probably 365,000 are celibate Roman Priests.

Or would you rather the Roman Church have a total of 415,000 Priests, 50,000 married priests plus 365,000 celibate priests. So the Church would then have a total of 465,000 Priests.

What would you rather the Church have? 415,000 Priests or 465,000 Priests?

 

[Bon_Croix]

Why should we care? And, what makes now the time to change? Because you say so? You don’t have proper authority.

 

[Melodeonist]

No way. The priest devotes himself to his spiritual family: the parish, and the LORD. Jesus was never married, why should a priest be married?

 

[adamhovey1988]

Not like this take isn’t offensive to Eastern Catholics, or anything.
That said, I see what you’re getting at, and even the married priests I know argue in favour of celibacy. Just not that it be mandatory. I think the status quo for both the East and the West is fine. In the west, I don’t even think we’d know how to have a large number of married priests. There’d have to be a lot of cultural adjustments in a rather short period of time.

 

[Gorgias]

yet we fully realize that such people can be both excellent at their profession and excellent as a husband and father as well.

The Catholic priesthood isn’t a ‘profession’, it’s a ‘vocation’.

the fact it, every married man must work a job. this takes time and effort. while being a Priest may require a bit more time and effort than some professions

Priesthood, while time-consuming, isn’t merely a job that one clocks into in the morning and clocks out of at night.

however, we live in a highly sexualized society in which men are taught from a very young age that happiness comes from sexual fulfillment - and thus, there is a certain level of “invincible ignorance” prevalent in society today that prevents men from even considering the idea of Priesthood

Your argument is that we should ask “invincibly ignorant” married men if they want to become priests? In other words, once a man learns that happiness doesn’t come from sexual fulfillment, your argument here in favor of priesthood for married men falls apart – they know better, so they know that this isn’t a good reason to want to become a priest…

 

[TaylorDonBarret]

Are you a Priest? Do you feel called to the Priesthood? What does it matter to you if your Priest is celibate or not? Does it effect the efficacy of the Sacraments? Would he be any less of a man if he was a husband and father?

 

[TaylorDonBarret]

There are married Priests and married Pastors throughout the world who do an absolutely fantastic job of ministering to and loving on their parish family.

 

[TaylorDonBarret]

The vocation to the Priesthood does not rule out the vocation to being a husband and father. One can commit himself 100% to both tasks - as evidence the married Priests and married Pastors throughout the world.

 

[Duesenberg]

“Eliminate”? Absolutely not. Not only a chaste priesthood a gift from God, I cannot imagine bishops and other prelates that were not chaste males.

I am however STRONGLY in favor of AUGMENTING the chaste priesthood with married priests who are formed as priests outside of the existing seminary system. I would like to see SOME priests formed through years of praxis, individual sturdy and spiritual direction right in their own parishes/towns/dioceses.

 

[twf]

This is probably a better argument for religious life.

There will always be religious. Religious are celibate by definition. Some religious men are also called to be priests. We will always have celibate priests just as Orthodoxy has celibate priests… but that doesn’t mean that the secular priesthood should be drawn from only single men.
At present, the Church does ordain married men to the priesthood - in both various Eastern jurisdictions and in the Ordinariates. If the general discipline of the Latin Church is relaxed, I would favour limiting it to married deacons who have proven themselves in that role for a number of years.

 

[Crocus]

The date on the calendar means nothing.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/c...c_20111121_levada-celibacy-priesthood_en.html

Thanks for this awesome link.

I hope everyone has a chance to read and ponder the case for celibate priesthood.

A husband lays down his life for his wife. The celibate life is the closest model for a priest (following Jesus) in laying down his life for the church.

(What do you mean by “The date on the calendar means nothing.”)

 

[Gorgias]

The vocation to the Priesthood does not rule out the vocation to being a husband and father. One can commit himself 100% to both tasks - as evidence the married Priests and married Pastors throughout the world.

The problem is that it’s treated by the Latin Church as an exceptional case, not a norm.

 

[misstherese]

I strongly disagree with allowing marriage and the priesthood to intertwine.

Priests were made celibate for a reason.

 

[godisgood77]

Peter was married… why shouldn’t priests be allowed to marry?

 

[godisgood77]

Chaste means living according to one’s station in life. It does not mean celibacy. A married priest can be perfectly chaste while living as a husband, father and priest. The Catholic Church has had married priests for millennia… I haven’t seen a convincing argument on why we shouldn’t reinstitute that practice in the Latin Rite.

 

[kinghenry17]

Why are people so scared of the idea of being chaste? All Catholics are supposed to be chaste, not only priests. If you are a fornicator, you are in a state of grave sin. Now if you are married, this is a different path than being a priest, and the two conflict. Being a priest is committing to give your entire self to God. Wives are very demanding as are children. You cannot be a halfhearted priest and this job means you are the father of the entire parish. Speaking personally, being chaste has been incredible for me and it is nothing to be scared of, and again, it is required of all Catholics