A new book in favor of priestly celibacy

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:00 pm by Deacon Greg Kandra

A new book in favor of priestly celibacy 2016-09-30T17:00:49-04:00 Deacon Greg Kandra

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

With a new married priest in Buffalo getting so much buzz, I was intrigued by this item, which moved on Zenit two days ago:

Why can’t priests marry? It’s a question people often ask and the requirement of celibacy has also been blamed as one of the causes of sexual abuse by priests.

A recently published translation of an Italian book addresses the topic in a question and answer format, “Married Priests? Thirty Crucial Questions about Celibacy” (Ignatius Press). It is edited by Arturo Cattaneo, with contributions from a wide variety of scholars.

We are faced with a great educational challenge in explaining the Church’s teaching on priestly celibacy, admitted Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy.

He likened celibacy to marriage. “The underlying logic of priestly celibacy is the same one we encounter in Christian matrimony: the total gift of everything forever in love.”

From the historical aspect the book noted that Christ chose celibacy for himself even though among the Jews this state of life was seen as a humiliation. He did not generate children physically but loved his disciples as brethren and shared a common life with them.

Jesus’ way of communicating life was not through physical generation but spiritual. Therefore the celibacy of those who follow Jesus in the priesthood must be understood in the perspective of this spiritual transmission of eternal life.

I was especially struck by this passage, which may raise a few eyebrows among my diaconal brothers:

Why not allow married priests in order to attract more vocations? This, the book observed, is one of the most frequent arguments regarding celibacy. There is no evidence, however, “that requiring less of candidates to the priesthood leads to increased numbers of them,” the answer replied.

You can read the whole thing here.

Well. Okay. I will give the author the benefit of the doubt and assume that something was lost in translation.

Did they really mean to state that being a married member of clergy “requires less” of a man? That it’s somehow easier? I think our Eastern rite priests might beg to differ. They have a long and venerable tradition that, in one smug phrase, is being dismissed as somehow inferior. Meantime, one Latin rite deacon who read that passage responded succinctly: “As a married deacon with five children between the ages of 4 months and 11 years, I take exception to the idea of ‘requiring less.’ When Father has to worry about a house payment and putting food on the table, we’ll talk.” Another deacon noted that the article conflates a discipline (celibacy) with a sacrament (marriage), which among other things is just bad theology.

The fact is, all vocations make demands. All require more—more time, more sacrifice, more selflessness, more surrender, more challenges than most people could possibly imagine.

Finally, I’ll jut add this: in the United States, a vocation involving married clergy is the only one that has shown growth in numbers over the last several years.

Whatever else people may say about the diaconate, I can tell you that it hasn’t grown because it is so easy, and it hasn’t flourished because it has required less.

Previous Post

January 27, 2013

The next big thing: long-distance marriage prep online?

Next Post

January 28, 2013 National Catholic Reporter responds to Bishop Finn: "NCR is proud to call itself a Catholic publication"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "Mad Men" 9/11 advent All Things New Amazing video amazing videos amazon america Anglicans Anti-Catholicism art ascension thursday ash wednesday Atheists baltimore Bible Bishops Blogging bonnie engstrom Books bridgeport Brooklyn Chaplains children christian art christmas Church Churches CNEWA Converts criticism Deacons Death Penalty easter eastern christian Eastern Christians Ecumenism Education education Eucharist Europe euthanasia Evangelization Exorcism Family Feasts Gay rights Good Friday Great links Great Moments in Journalism Hanging with the saints heather renshaw Hispanic Catholics Hispanics History homelies Homilies Humor Hymn of the Week Immigration indianapolis Inspiration Interfaith news ireland Jesus Jews Journalism Judaism lent Liturgy logos Marriage Mary Media Medical news Mental health Middle East Monks Movies Music Muslims My world and welcome to it New Evangelization new york News Nuns Parenting Parish life peoria Persecution politics Politics Pope pope francis pope john paul Prayer Preaching Priests Pro-life Quote of the day radio rebecca frech ripp Ripped from the headlines rippred from the headlines Sacraments saints Scripture sex abuse Sex abuse crisis SEX ABUSE CRISIS TAGGED WITH: SEX ABUSE CRISIS The people in the pews the visitation project theatre This & that Thomas Merton Trappists TV Uncategorized uncategorized Vatican VATICAN vocation Vocations Voices & Views Women Worth a thousand words Writing Year of Faith year of mercy young people

Select a Month December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What city is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Florence Rome Vatican City Jerusalem

Books by This Author Books by Deacon Greg Kandra

See All Titles »