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    Fr. Joseph Jenkins

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Priestly Celibacy – Based Upon Christ

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Father Joe

Discussions about priestly celibacy usually cite the universal catechism or Pope John Paul II or canon law or an elevated asceticism. Indeed, there are theologians who quote ecclesial laws as if they were Sacred Scripture. Do not get me wrong, our laws are important, but only in so far as they keep good order in the Church and safeguard essential truths. We do not follow the law for the law’s sake. The conditions for holiness are not limited to those who most renounce the world or who engage in the most rigorist of mortifications, penances and sacrifices. Marriage does not close the door to holiness and celibacy does not guarantee it as a merited prize. Ultimately, everything for the Christian comes back to Christ and everything is gift. Ours is not a religion of a book or of laws or a philosophy of life and meaning. No, the Catholic Christian faith, as complex as it may seem, still comes down to a personal and corporate faith in Jesus Christ. We follow a person, the eternal Word, the incarnate Christ, God made man. Jesus is Lord and Savior and Messiah. His is the saving name. There is no other way to the Father except through him. He is the one high priest. He is the pontifex or bridge from the mortal world of sin and death to the promised kingdom of salvation, eternal life and communion with God and the saints. Both the priesthood and celibacy find their measure in Jesus. Ordained men share in his priesthood. They act in his name. Priestly celibacy resonates in harmony with the virginal priesthood of our Lord. The Church deems this as having significant value and so she makes celibacy mandatory and absolute, at least for most of the presbyterate.

Celibacy is rooted in Christ’s life and witness; much of the rest is window dressing. While celibacy gives the priest a wonderful freedom and facilitates his charge as an agent of the Church, this is only a fruit of his sacrifice, not its cause. It is also not motivated by any desire to escape the ordinary cares of the world and the demands of the flesh. These side-effects may be overly emphasized, but he is not so much running away from the world as he is racing toward the kingdom. The Reformed Protestant theologian, Karl Barth, speculated that the sin of the fallen angels was that they “tarried” or hesitated to do God’s will. Ultimately, there can be no hesitation, either from angels or from men. We cannot look back. Jesus tells a disciple to let the dead bury the dead. While there is a degree of hyperbole, he says that he who would turn back even to assist family is not worthy of him. There is an urgency to the coming kingdom and the work that must be done. Celibacy, in Christ and in his priests, communicates this divine imperative.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Catholic, Celibacy, Marriage, Priests, Religion, Sacraments, Sexuality | Leave a comment »

Priestly Celibacy – Visions of the Church

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Father Joe

It is in light of serious debates over the substance of faith and morals that certain critics wonder why we have purposely sidelined ourselves to apologetics over the accidental of celibacy? They would say that if it be not essential and of original divine mandate, then we are needlessly complicating the dialogue of faith and hampering evangelization. What is more important, the priesthood or celibacy? What is more pressing, making sure that priests sleep alone in their beds or staffing parishes where the flock hungers for the Eucharist? Is the millennium-long tradition of celibacy worth deprivation of hurting people from the healing sacraments and from the absolution of their sins? These critics feel the argument over celibacy is a cuckoo in the nest, a substitute for the real egg that should be there. However, it is my contention that the meaning and value of celibacy comes not just from men but from God. It cannot be honestly dismissed out-of-hand.

Celibacy and marriage are both vocations but also themes that intersect how we bring the saving kerygma to the world around us. Marriage speaks to cooperation and partnership. It is open to dialogue with the world. Celibacy is representative of being a sign of contradiction. We are called to do battle with the world, the devil and the flesh. We struggle as Catholics with both attitudes. Much of this has fueled the tension after the Second Vatican Council. We embrace a certain religious freedom for ourselves, and by practical necessity, for others; and yet, all the while maintaining the proposition that error has no rights. The Catholic Church is the true Church. We pursue a course of ecumenism but always skirting the perilous cliff of religious indifferentism. The kernel or seed remains the same; we embrace dialogue over anaphora for the same purpose, the conversion of souls to Catholic truth. There is give-and-take about accidentals; but there can be no compromise upon substance. Truth is not relative but objective and fixed. We can look at it from different perspectives. Our appreciation can grow deeper but the deposit of faith is passed on only, not reinvented. Marriage and family life is the vocation of dialogue: entailing compromise, diplomatic speech, intimacy, touching, and sometimes confusion and messiness. Celibacy is the vocation of decree: along with obstinacy, command, distance, bulwarks, discipline and order. These themes are not absolute but they are illustrative of the necessary tension that is maintained in the Church. One might argue that the eclipse of celibacy would bode poorly against the dogmatic quality we find vital in Church authority and structure.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Catholic, Celibacy, Discipleship, Marriage, Priests, Religion, Sacraments, Sexuality | Leave a comment »

Priestly Celibacy – Short-changing the Church?

Posted on August 11, 2013 by Father Joe

A question that is increasingly coming into vogue with the emergence of Catholic Eastern rites in the West and the accommodation for former Anglicans is this: why should our priests of the Roman rite be deprived of modeling Christian fatherhood and spousal love as do the clergy of Protestant denominations? While there is no denial that a celibate priest can teach and preach on matters of marriage and sexual morality; this perspective merely stresses that we may be depriving ourselves of a wonderful witness for family life from the men who stand at our pulpits and altars. There is no denying that a married minister brings a certain experiential knowledge that has value. Similarly, though, the celibate priest brings a certain distance that may help us to discern issues from a more dispassionate or panoramic view. We can alternately be too far from an issue to offer any applicable solutions or too close to problems to see any available remedies.

The question remains, have we shortchanged ourselves without the recourse of optional celibacy or optional marriage for candidates seeking priestly ordination? Many of us would contend that the way out of this apparent conundrum is to better train and employ our married permanent deacons. They cannot celebrate Mass, hear confessions or anoint the sick; however, they can still witness as married men in sacramental ministry. Eastern rites and former Anglicans aside, just because Protestants have something that we do not is an insufficient rationale for a change. Many non-Catholic faith communities also have women ministers and Pope Francis has reiterated the infallible prohibition of both Benedict XVI and John Paul II that priests must be male. However, we can again cite our current Pope who invites us to be more inviting and enterprising at finding authentic ways for women to serve the Lord and his Church.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Catholic, Celibacy, Discipleship, Marriage, Morality, Priests, Religion, Sexuality, Sin | Leave a comment »

Priestly Celibacy – Qualified to Instruct Couples?

Posted on August 10, 2013 by Father Joe

Marriage preparation can be quite an ordeal for the celibate priest, not because he is ignorant or because he is envious of what these couples possess; but rather due to the lack of faith that is increasingly brought to these forums. Couples are often having sex and living together before marriage. They want a church wedding for aesthetic reasons or because of parental pressure; but they, themselves, neither practice their faith nor give much thought to Catholic truths. The priest comes across as an intrusive busybody who wants to know their business and then tries to tell them how to behave. The response is either anger or ridicule. “Who are you to tell us what to do? Just because you cannot ‘get laid’ is no reason to tell us that we should not have sex! We love each other. If only you loved someone or had someone to love you, then you would know. You’re not even fully a man! Just tell us what is the minimum we have to do to get married. That is all we want from you!” As an effort to avoid such confrontations, either the priest relinquishes his moral authority behind silence or humor, or the couple will purposely deceive the priest and conceal fornication and cohabitation. Such a situation might be similar for a married minister, with the exception that he would not be mocked as an ignoramus for being celibate. Nevertheless, it is into this setting that the celibate priest should still instruct upon the sacrament of marriage, the openness to human life, the value of coming to the marriage bed undefiled, and the theology of the body. Retaliating against criticism, some priests will argue that a celibate priest can speak about such themes just as a doctor can be informed as to how to treat cancer, without having cancer, himself. The problem with this analogy is that marriage is compared to a disease. A better analogy might be with the astronomer. He can tell you all about the moon even though he personally has never walked there. Similarly, before you drove a car, you studied and had to pass a test on the manual which gave you pointers and rules for the road. Sex and marriage are far more complicated than driving. The priest speaks not for himself but from the experience of the Church and her teachings, as in the universal catechism. Important guidance is given as to how couples can live out their marriages, sacramentally and naturally. Love and joy are enhanced by such positive direction, yes, even if it comes from a celibate priest. But he does not stand alone. There are many married Catholic lay men and women who stand with him and give witness to the truth and value of Catholic teachings.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Catholic, Celibacy, Discipleship, Marriage, Morality, Priests, Religion, Sexuality, Sin | Leave a comment »

Priestly Celibacy – The Loss of Credibility

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Father Joe

Given the loss of esteem given celibacy and the higher levels of education available in the West to the laity, the teachings from a priest, monk or nun on the subject of sexuality and marriage have lost a great deal of credibility.  This is a fact that we must acknowledge and seek to resolve.  In days gone by, the priest was one of the few people in a community who could read and had gone to school.  Many of the immigrant families tell me that their grandparents would seek the priest’s advice for about everything, not just on faith and morals.  The celibate priest was given incredible moral authority.  The enemies of the Church knew well that the only way to undermine Catholic teaching and values was to devalue the clergy.  The criminal abuse cases had accomplished what our enemies long desired.  The abuse scandals, the defections of priests from ministry, and publicizing their affairs in books, has also done much harm.  They might argue that such was only to force a discussion; but the actual effect has been scandal and ridicule against the so-called institutional Church.  The defectors, themselves, clamor that no institution can demand perpetual celibacy.  Little or nothing is said about personal culpability, promises freely made and then broken, and entanglements with women that were sinful.

The infamous Father Cutie scandal in Florida is a case in point:  he has an affair, gets caught, jumps to the Episcopal church without a word to his bishop, marries a divorced woman, writes a book, and is given a forum from the secular news to continue spreading his rebellious discontent.  There is almost nothing about what he did that one could judge as commendable.  He was a disgrace from beginning to end.  Now he belongs to the church of priestesses, contraception, multiple marriages, and gay unions.  If he has no ideological issues with that then good riddance…they can keep him.  I do not see how any authentically Catholic-minded priest could suffer such nonsense, and bring excommunication upon himself and judgment down on someone he claims to love.  But that is me.  God will be his judge.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Catholic, Celibacy, Discipleship, Marriage, Morality, Priests, Religion, Sexuality, Sin | 1 Comment »

Priestly Celibacy – Will Any Answer Satisfy Critics Today?

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Father Joe

Some reasons for priestly celibacy do not impress people today. For instance, the argument that it focuses personal energy or that it optimizes the available manpower might not convince one as a typical “ends justifies the means” argument. The institution is requiring a great deal of the individual: the perpetual abnegation of a major natural right. Many men find a sense of fulfillment, purpose and self- development in marriage and family. All this is denied the celibate priest. Certain Catholics, themselves, bewail the loss from the gene pool of those Catholic men who are the most fervent and intellectual in their grasp of faith. They contend that we short-change the men and the Church. The next generation would probably supply the Church men and women with similar gifts and a ready willingness to serve others. Instead, they argue, we leave these men personally stunted, alone and barren. He will have no helpmate to share his life. There will be no children to give him joy. It is a pretty dark picture. What they do not see is that celibacy makes possible another whole level of fulfillment and spiritual fruitfulness. The future of the Church does not depend upon his priestly loins, but rather upon the spiritual fruits of his priestly proclamation and his exercise of the sacraments. The priest delivers himself entirely into the hands of God, the divine supernatural agency. It is God who will make the sacrifices of a priest worthwhile and efficacious. The celibate priest gains more than he loses, even if the world cannot see the spiritual value.

The celibacy of the priest, although an accidental by comparison to the male humanity of the priest, is another marker that connects the ordained minister to Christ. Christ is the pure and unblemished Lamb that is sacrificed on our behalf. The ordained priest participates in the one high priesthood of Christ. He acts “in the person of Christ” the head of the Church. He is a living and breathing “icon” for the Lord. While marriage is it’s own expression of Christ and his covenant with his bride in a particular or individual fashion; the priest is most uniquely groom in a universal or corporate way while celebrating at the marriage banquet altar of the Mass. He signifies Christ the groom to his bride, the Church. His celibacy speaks loudly that he belongs to no one woman, no single cell in the body of Christ; rather, he is in spousal relationship to the Church as a whole. It is a spiritual marriage and yet, also very real. Christ gives himself to us as priest and victim, as spiritual food and as oblation. The priest sacrifices his individual life so that the body might know the forgiveness of sins. He is servant or slave. His obedience, celibacy and poverty joins him to Christ as the victim who dies to self so that others might live. Celibacy insures that the priesthood will never be just a job with regular work hours. The priest surrenders a basic human right that most men take for granted. He does so, not to suffer needlessly, but so that others might benefit from the ministry of Christ that is perpetuated through him. This ministerial identification is a great mystery. All of us were made in the image of God and are called by grace to share in his likeness. But the ordained priest has been set apart. He is just a man and yet he is not an ordinary man. An indelible character marks his soul. While marriage is “until death do we part,” the priest will still be a priest in heaven, and God forbid, if he should damn himself and suffer as a Judas, in the lowest circle of hell. He has been given special graces for holiness; however, the maxim remains true, the more that one has been given, the more one will be held accountable. That is why some of the saints feared that it was easier for a priest to suffer perdition; unlike other souls, he could neither claim ignorance of the truth nor distance from the saving sacraments. Celibacy is a safeguard to help the priest in maintaining perspective about how important and unique his vocation actually is. He says at the altar that “this is my body…this is the chalice of my blood.” Similarly, at confession, he extends his right hand and says within the absolution prayer, “I absolve you….” Both at the altar and in the confessional, the priest speaks in the first person. Here is the great mystery. Never had God in the history of the world given such power and authority to men as he gave to priests. God is called down from heaven and sins are forgiven. The priest is still a man and a sinner but he is also so much more. Celibacy speaks to this element of “more.” Because of this man we hear Christ speaking. Because of this priest, Christ is present both in his person and in his saving activity. Celibacy prizes in a unique way who the priest is and who he becomes for the community of faith. He belongs to the Church and no other woman shares his bed. He is consumed for the love of his bride and on fire for the salvation of souls.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Catholic, Celibacy, Discipleship, Marriage, Morality, Priests, Religion, Sacraments, Sexuality | 3 Comments »

Priestly Celibacy – Integration & Compulsory

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Father Joe

There are authorities who would not attack virginity and celibacy directly but focus on issues like proper psycho-sexual integration and the fact that the Church makes the discipline compulsory. This group would assert that many men are deformed in personality and not formed in any way that benefits either them or the faith community. They suggest that some, if not all clergy, are reluctant celibates who suffer a misaligned interior life where debase desires and filthy images are hidden. Frustration and anger resorts in all sorts of compulsive behaviors like excessive eating, drinking, smoking, etc. These critics suggest that mandatory celibacy might fuel a need for control and a lust for power. The Eastern rites are not exempt from their critique since only celibates among priests are permitted to become bishops. The man who is ambitious for such advancement, they argue, trades a wife and family for a higher prelate’s juridical authority. Gays repress and attack their own under the auspices of faith orthodoxy to demonstrate their dominion, even if it disconnects them from the sympathies of their own sexual identity. Women’s ordination is rejected, according to this scenario, not for historical, biblical or doctrinal reasons; but because women can have no role of intimate partnership with them, either in the family home or in the church sanctuary. Okay, I do not much buy this perspective; however, we need to be aware that this is how some think about the celibate priest and the structures that maintain the status-quo.

The revisionists who oppose mandatory celibacy would say that no institution, not even the Church, can demand such a renunciation when many men are twisted and personally corrupted by it. They would admit that there are successful celibates, but only a few. My answer is that the Church is perfectly within her rights and that celibacy is far more often a positive force in the lives of priests than something negative. There is the presumption that many men who discern a calling to the priesthood might not have the accompanying gift of celibacy. My rebuttal is that our Lord works intimately with his Church. If a man is truly called to the priesthood, God will make possible through grace the accompanying celibate life. Everyone truly called, without exception, receives this gift. A lot depends upon how we respond and integrate this gift into discipleship and ministry.  At least this is my view.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Catholic, Celibacy, Discipleship, Marriage, Morality, Priests, Religion, Sacraments, Sexuality, Sin | 2 Comments »

Priestly Celibacy – Purity is No Perversion

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Father Joe

Kids can be vulgar in their attitudes toward virginity. But adults and professionals can also be condescending regarding this great sacrificial gift of self.  I mention it for several reasons. First, it is a personal witness that I later incorporated into my promise of celibacy made to the Archbishop. Second, while the critique becomes more sophisticated, there remains a prejudice or bigotry against the virgin as if he or she has forfeited a certain essential human experience. Employing the modern and heavily manipulated science of psychology, that will insist that there can be no satisfied maturity without experience of the full gamut of corporeal achievements and sensations. In opposition, I vigorously object to the idea that unless a man or woman has sexual intercourse, he or she is not a full adult or that development becomes precarious. It is precisely this devaluing of virginity that undermines consecrated celibacy in the popular mind. Especially with the acceptance of older candidates, it is probable that many of them have had various romantic relationships and sexual encounters. Sex outside of marriage is neither neutral nor spiritually advantageous. It is a sin and a serious one at that. Of course, the Church is all about forgiveness. Such a man might receive absolution, and once reforming his life, find acceptance as a candidate for holy orders. He will have particular struggles, notably with habit (vice) and with memory. Many men caught up in fornication are later haunted by the bodies and faces of their liaisons…something that plagues their thoughts in marriage and pursues, even tormenting, them into the priesthood. Many psychologists are quiet about this and instead attack the virgin who comes to priestly celibacy. They argue that he is prone to all sorts of neuroses and likely suffers from a distorted or even a mutilated personality. Instead of appreciating virginity as a gift given to God and assumed into priestly celibacy; they categorize it as a perversion. I find this all very dubious and outright dishonest, especially for those mental experts who are Christian. Given that the American Psychiatric Association no longer considers homosexuality as mental illness, these clinicians would judge homosexual acts as preferable to perpetual virginity. Such a claim undermines the professionalism and objective value of the psychological profession. When bishops use psychologists to evaluate candidates; they should first interview the researchers so that they can root out those who are not sympathetic toward celibacy or who do not have the mind of the Church.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Catholic, Celibacy, Discipleship, Homosexuality, Marriage, Modesty, Morality, Priests, Religion, Sacraments, Sexuality, Sin, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Priestly Celibacy – Mortal Sin Prerequisite for Ordination?

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Father Joe

Priests are not all the same. While there are constants in religious formation and later in ministry; there are incidents that set us apart and which remain in memory. I was a first-year philosophy student, away from home for the first time. I was surprise by the range of ages and various life-experiences of men around me. There were good days and bad days. Maybe it was my anxious nature, but I especially recall the matters which upset me. An upper classmate wanted the staff to send me home. I shared with him a confidence and he used it against me. It was my presumption that all of us were chaste and pure. He could not believe it and made a scene. He verbally assaulted me for all to hear, “You’re a virgin! If I had my way no one would be allowed into the seminary unless he had first [expletive deleted] a few girls! What do you know about real life?” This guy was getting ready for theology. How dare he argue that mortal sin is a prerequisite for priesthood! I had thought this prejudice was something I had left behind me in a public high school. If a boy was a “virgin” then he was judged as abnormal or accused of being “queer.” [Forgive the slur, it is a label that should not be used against any human being.]  There were opportunities for moral trespass but I refused to take them. There were plenty of pretty female teens around my age. One flaunted the fact that she would make a man out of me and that she was “hot” for me. I was normal, I kept telling myself. Part of me wanted what many regarded as an act of becoming, but it was wrong. As far back as I can remember I had a strong moral sense. Lust was a poor substitute for love. I told one girl to have some respect for herself. She was more than a piece of meat. One girl got mad at what she interpreted as my rejection and threw herself at another boy. She would have an abortion before leaving high school. Another girl regularly confided in me. Her boyfriend abused her. She said I was the only boy with whom she could talk; the others she could not trust. She was happy to have a friend, not just another boy trying to land her in bed. Don’t get me wrong, I had the same feelings and drives of the other boys. But when it came to the girls, I refused to be mastered by my passion. I felt protective of the girls. Many of them were smart and attractive. Their dignity was important to me. I was pained by the prospect of leading any of them into sin or hurting them. My father’s values were my values and he was a strict Catholic. I wanted to be a vehicle for forgiveness and healing, not for sin and pain. My peers and I were young with little education and no money. Acting out sexually was foolish. I can still hear my father’s voice. “Sex outside of marriage is wrong. Marriage is for life! Marriage or priesthood, that’s your choice. Better to die than to ever betray your Catholic religion.” Already I had a sense of a calling, not just to priesthood but more primarily to live out my baptism as a Christian gentleman.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Catholic, Celibacy, Discipleship, Marriage, Modesty, Morality, Priests, Religion, Sacraments, Sexuality, Sin | 3 Comments »

Priestly Celibacy – The Church’s Man

Posted on August 4, 2013 by Father Joe

I watched a television program several years go where a reporter interviewed a sampling of priests who left ministry for marriage. They were aging men and one in particular told a very touching story about how he came face to face with his need for a wife and family when he was baptizing the first child of his brother. He said that he knew then what he wanted. Nevertheless, he admitted that if the Church asked him to return to ministry tomorrow (as married man), he would leave his lucrative business in an instant. He still felt that he was called to the priesthood. Indeed, he rightly said, he would always be a priest. However, the images that followed stripped away the sympathy I felt for him. He was involved with other ousted married priests in conducting religious services and Mass, even though they had been stripped of faculties to do so. As is so often the case with such priests, his problem was not merely a failure to keep his promise of celibacy, but also of ecclesial obedience. If the Church authorities should deem fit to grant the priesthood to married men, then that is the Church’s business, no matter whether I like it or not. However, a man who marries without laicization and dispensation from celibacy, not only incurs censure but involves the person he is said to love in mortal sin. Yes, it is mortal because the priest knows better. If such a man tries to continue in ministry, then he draws still more people away from the true Church into his circle of rebellion. Personal weakness I can understand. But harming the souls of others is a gross betrayal of Christ. He places himself into the role of Judas, not for a sack of coins but for the temptation clothed in a skirt and stockings.

Our understanding of celibacy, as I have already mentioned, cannot be disconnected from our understanding of marriage. As topics they can be distinguished but they can only really be defined accurately in relationship to each other. It is in light of these two mysteries that we can branch out in our critique of open-ended single life and the moral ills of fornication, cohabitation, homosexual acts, polygamy and pornographic voyeurism. Of course, some might misjudge celibacy because they wrongly define marriage. This not only applies in reverse but can tamper with how we see the other areas of human sexual experience. The degradation of celibacy may expand the understanding of marriage as merely an opportunity for contractual sexual pleasure. But marriage is not licensed prostitution. Such a view would collapse moral judgment against moral ills outside of marriage. Divinizing celibacy too highly might impair marriage by reducing it to merely a necessary evil for the sake of propagation of the species. This mentality might properly exclude the listed moral evils but at the terrible price of defaming a sacrament of the Church. Although in the past marriage was defined primarily in reference to the need for human generation; Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body would seek to bring this into balance with the fidelity of the spouses. This is fine and good, but it has had necessary ramifications with our appreciation of celibacy. As marriage is made more appealing and even spiritualized as a means to holiness; we need to show the overriding value and benefit of celibacy. If we fail to make the case, then young men are going to view it simply in terms of an imposed hardship they must suffer to save souls and to forgive sins. This value must both be defined and made relevant in the daily life of the celibate priest; otherwise, he will become increasingly angry and resentful against the very institution he represents. The priest is the Church’s man. If he turns against the Church or gives in to cynicism, then this negativity will spread to the pews and damage efforts at evangelization.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Catholic, Celibacy, Discipleship, Marriage, Morality, Priests, Religion, Sacraments, Sexuality, Sin | Leave a comment »

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