Why the Church no longer teaches the superiority of celibacy over marriage

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In short, I think that The Church is being pragmatic in this instance. It has never been celibate vocations that have filled the pews on a Sunday especially, it has been married people most of them with children.
In targeting marriage and the married today and with glowing praise, The Church is addressing those who are responsible for the formation of the next generation of The Church. I see this personally because it is not only marriage and the married that are targeted with glowing praise, it is our youth as well and given time (it has begun now - World Youth Day etc.) the celibate vocations and especially the priesthood are being preached to young people with glowing praise and held up to them as worthy and admirable vocations, which of course they are indeed.
The Church, as it were, is killing two birds with one stone. Marriage and the priesthood, celibate vocations are being held up with admiration and praise. Each of these vocations are also vitally necessary for the future of The Church. And where will these vocations come from - from well formed (good parenting) young people.

“Repopulating the pews” in hope and with realistic pragmatism.

Something like that and only my two cents worth.

Finally, “without Me you can do nothing”, it will be Grace that will rebuild and repopulate The Church. And “My Ways are not your ways”
" I am a mystery, folks. Get used to it"
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Prior to Vatican II, virginity and celibacy were held up to the faithful with glowing praise as it were and to the detriment of marriage, which hardly got a mention. Marriage was sort of the default for those who did not aspire to the higher vocations of virginity and celibacy and sort of gave into their passions as it were.
What had happened was, there had been a mass exodus into the priesthood and religious life before Vatican II.

With Vatican II and all the changes, there was a mass exodus out of the priesthood and religious life because (I have concluded) the vocations prior to Vatican II that subsequently left post Vatican II were not sound vocations and the very real and personal aspiration to the higher vocations of virginity and celibacy were not sound motivations at all - for one only.

Post Vatican II as vocations to virginity and celibacy initially fell right off, The Church asked herself (in my estimation) "Where did we go wrong?. And so now we are seeing realistic pragmatism in an effort to answer that question.
 
Bit of a misunderstanding and possibly I was not clear to my meaning. 😊
By “to the detriment of marriage” prior Vatican II, I did not mean that marriage was not functioning in society - because it was. What I meant was the emphasis on virginity and celibacy pre Vatican II, gave no real merit to marriage as a holy sacrament and valued way of life. The lay state in life and back then meant in all likelihood married life was almost unimportant vocation wise, in fact it was not considered a vocation per se. Marriage as a vocation per se did not really happen until post Vatican II with the emphasis on the importance, vocation and mission of the laity.
I hope that might make my meaning clearer, whyeyeman, and not confuse the issue further.

I have lived pre and post Vatican II.
 
I think the overvaluation of marriage is just to please the world. This pastoral offer nothing in the sense of Christian perfection, it encourages people to remain in the enjoyment of human happiness by telling them how marriage is beautiful, how it has similarities with the trinity etc., in short, we paint beautiful paintings to please people, but in the end nothing is said in relation to the essential, which is Christian perfection, because Christian perfection is in the detachment of the goods of the world including the detachment of the joys of marriage as Saint Paul’s reminder:
1 Corinthians 7:29
From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something,
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today, people are encouraged to follow the passions that drive them to embrace the joys of the world. So asked some divorced who have suffered their divorce to remain in solitude and may be childless, it is suddenly give them a very hard message, because we have never said from the beginning that perfection is in the detachment from the joys of marriage
 
In article 7 of the CCC of the Catholic Church. The bond the man and woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this Covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to this dignity of a sacrament
 
Edward_H said:
The word “superiority” in today’s world…where everyone’s self-esteem is so fragile…creates problems.

Setting aside the emotion of “superiority” and focusing instead on the “logical” aspect of superiority, perhaps we can consider Mary’s own gift of self gift which was ‘superior’ to a “normal mother” because she gave her whole self while remaining celibate.

The object of her sacrifice or self gift was God, not a human, her husband.

So one can “get to” this teaching just using logic.
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Here’s how it makes sense.

Given how over-inflated and narcissistic our society has become (suing when our little Johnny doesn’t get to play first string, etc.) the “word” superiority (when it comes to priestly celibacy) rubs 95% of the (at least self-focused American) people the wrong way. “How do you, why, I am not inferior in any way.”

The larger and more substantial philosophical point about “the object of our sacrifice” or the “totality of gift” never is discussed because the windbags are only talking about how they couldn’t be inferior to anyone.
So, the word “superiority” in today’s world…where everyone’s self-esteem is so fragile…creates problems, as I said.
 
The truth doesn’t care about the petty sensitivities of greedy westerners.
 
Yes, celibacy is still regarded as a “higher calling”. And yes, it is still preached (here is my pastor’s blog regarding it):

http://www.imcatholic.net/articles/Celibacy-A-challenge-for-the-world

One way of “cutting to the chase” is to recognize the nature of vocations. Marriage is the natural vocation (see CCC 1603 where it states that the vocation to marriage is written into our very nature, coming from the hand of God). With that in mind, it is much more clearer to see why the celibate vocations are considered a “higher calling” because they require supernatural graces from God (remember, Christ Himself stated that “not everyone can accept this teaching, only those to whom it is given”). So, in summary, yes, celibacy is the higher vocation, but not everyone can handle the higher vocation.
 
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Sure He care (He is the Truth) about our dispositions.

He cares very much that we’re in the rut thinking about ourselves.
He wants to free us from the enslavement that this false superiority mindset can lead to.
He gave His own example of celibacy (and also of performing His first public miracle at a wedding) to remind us the unique but distinct value that priestly celibacy and married chastity have in the plan of God.
 
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Well, if you sincerely believe that the Church is in error, then I don’t know why you have faith at all. Afterall, that’s pretty big evidence that the Holy Spirit hasn’t protected the deposit of the faith. Moreover, it’s a pretty big argument that the Church, while structured to be extremely conservative to social change, does actually give in and change. So there goes all the reasons for believing in the authority of the Church. Hello, agnosticism or atheism?

But rather, if we recognize that the gospel has always been imperfectly taught, that every generation indulges in uncondemned heresies that a conservative approach actually prevents from being corrected and clarified, then one can hold onto faith.

For indeed, I can first recognize that historically marriages were arranged and unhappy marriages were the norm. What people witnessed in their daily lives were mostly couples who lacked a healthy friendship with each other, two people who were having sex, bearing children, and being so busy with the daily chores involved in parenthood, that it made them very concerned about this world.

Whereas contrast that to the celibate individual who is far more free to go on missions and pray almost ceaselessly due to their own lack of children. Indeed, the issue with marriage is ALL centered on how children interfere with that type of quiet, prayerful, and meditative devotion. So indeed, celibacy looks holier than marriage because children’s needs are worldly needs.

But other couples throughout history lived extraordinary holy lives, had loving relationships, and even demonstrated how you could live your marriage as a vocation, how indeed raising children had similar strains to serving a foreign mission. The husband and wife are missionaries in their own home.

And then pointing to passages in the bible that compare marriage as reflecting on the mystery of Gods relationship to the Church, we can reflect on marriage as have a sacramental nature that reveals some truth about God.

Certainly, marriage can busy us and make it harder for us to not become distracted by our own busy lives. But, the married saints can indeed help us avoid that, to find an approach to our married lives so that they do become a path to holiness for both us and our children.

So you can take it as “The Church has gained wisdom from her saints” or a reason to doubt the authority of the Church overall. You pick, because I don’t think it’s rational in the least to just argue that this particular period of history is especially evil compared to all the centuries prior.
 
He didn’t say the church is in error, he said church leaders are not teaching the historical doctrine. That’s not the same thing.
 
So we should withhold the truth because people might take offense at it? That’s ridiculous.

Should Jesus have kept quiet about the truth so the Jews wouldn’t be offended?
 
whyeyeman said:
He didn’t say the church is in error, he said church leaders are not teaching the historical doctrine. That’s not the same thing.
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What he argued was that the Church is teaching things that go against dogmatic doctrines. Not all doctrines are dogmatic. Dogma refers to things that have official definitions. There are varying levels of authority of doctrine. And, indeed, if the bulk of the Church is almost universally failing to teach the faith, then that is the same thing as the gates of hell prevailing against the Church.

The problem is that people are taught to believe that theology and doctrine doesn’t develop and thus are biased to a conservativism which fails to allow the Church to reform the heresies taught throughout it’s history. Just give a few generations, and people vehemently defend heresies.

If you have evidence that the Church’s teachings on holiness and celibacy ever fell into the category of dogma, by all means actually quote the document and provide the link. Don’t just name a few references to old counsels while insisting “They all said this” when no one has the time to comb through all those documents to verify whether what you’re saying is true.

But indeed, just as your faith might be shaken by change, showing the Church as declaring a dogma and than distancing herself from it is evidence to them that the Church is just a social construct with no authority whatsoever.
 
Mboo said:
I think the overvaluation of marriage is just to please the world. This pastoral offer nothing in the sense of Christian perfection, it encourages people to remain in the enjoyment of human happiness by telling them how marriage is beautiful, how it has similarities with the trinity etc., in short, we paint beautiful paintings to please people, but in the end nothing is said in relation to the essential, which is Christian perfection, because Christian perfection is in the detachment of the goods of the world including the detachment of the joys of marriage as Saint Paul’s reminder:
1 Corinthians 7:29
From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something,
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“Above all things have charity, which is the bond of perfection” (Col. 3:14).
“And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.” (1 Corinthians 13:13).
“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets.” (Matt. 22: 36-40).

The essence of christian perfection consists neither in the detachment of the goods of the world nor in the detachment of the joys of marriage, but in charity and the conformity of our will to God’s will in all things through charity. Charity is the most excellent of the virtues and the most excellent of the three theological virtues. It is through charity that we are principally united to God in this life through a union of wills, i.e., our will conformed in all things to God’s will through love.

So, the perfection of the christian life consists primarily and essentially in the commandments of charity, i.e., the love of God and neighbor as Jesus said. All other commandments and counsels are directed to the love of God and neighbor. The evangelical counsels are means to the perfection of charity but they are not that in which charity esssentially consists.
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(continued)

Priests or religious are not necessarily more perfect and holier than married couples. In fact, there are probably many married couples who possess a greater degree of charity than many priests or religious. Again, christian perfection consists essentially in the theological virtue of charity which conforms our will to the will of God. Celibacy or virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven is a form of the virtue of chastity which is less excellent than charity. Concerning an ‘external’ detachment from material goods, St Paul says
" And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing" (1 Cor. 13:3). We need to be spiritually detached from the material goods of the world, but not necessarily externally such as the vocation to the lay state which normally involves the use and possession of material goods.

Marriage is a divine vocation, a call from God. And if God calls an individual to the married state, than that individual is to pursue the perfection of charity and conform their will to God’s will by fulfilling the duties and responsibilities incumbent to the married state not the least of which is the procreation of children which is one of the goods and joys of marriage and one of the principle ends for which God instituted marriage in the first place. Faithful married couples who have sexual intercourse with the right intention and which is in conformity with the teaching of the Church are fulfilling God’s will for them in their state in life. And fulfilling God’s will with charity as perfectly as possible is the essence of christian perfection. It is not normally God’s will that married couples make a perpetual vow to abstain from sex. Mary and Joseph are an exception but then again they are the parents of the eternal Son of God in the flesh. Mary and Joseph were married but it cannot be said that they were ‘second class’ disciples of Jesus as it were by any means.
 
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Catholicwife32 said:
if the bulk of the Church is almost universally failing to teach the faith, then that is the same thing as the gates of hell prevailing against the Church.
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No it’s not. Because by teaching error those people out themselves outside the church.
 
In Genesis God blesses His creation and finds it very good - after He had created man and woman instructing them to multiply and fill the earth. And mankind multiplies through conjugal relations - equally created by God and found to be very good.
Very sadly indeed, your outlook on life and spirituality, sexuality, seems to be extremely harsh and bleak, condemning. And of course, you are entitled to your opinions. We can certainly agree to differ 😀
Here is another reminder from St Paul from the same chapter as last night’s Vespers 🙂
Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!
Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near.
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.

Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/__P10I.HTM
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We’re talking past each other.

Absolutely No. we don’t hold the truth. That’s not my point.

My point is we need to understand the friction we get when we teach the truth and be prepared to explain more precisely what we mean by “superior” and why it is superior.

Vs just saying…“this is what the Church teaches sondeal with it”.
 
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