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Priestly Celibacy – Celibacy in the Holy Family

Posted on August 18, 2013 by Father Joe

If we are to properly appreciate priestly celibacy then we must first correctly understand the extensive meaning of marriage. This may sound like a “no brainer” and yet what many think they understand, they really do not. Sex outside of marriage essentially says that the matrimonial institution is expendable. It is not. Legislation permitting so-called same-sex marriage gives the impression that we have charge to redefine marriage and that its meaning is infinitely expandable. It is not. Marriage is often defined by conservative voices as the necessary institution to insure propagation, secure family life, and to safeguard civilization from the anarchy of the beast. It is more. God leaves his fingerprints upon creation. While there may be no Platonic world soul, we find emanations of the cosmic in the particular or small. Every good father reflects something of the Fatherhood of God. Mothers find their paradigm in Mary and in Mother Church. The creative focus of motherhood even touches the image of the Jesu-Pelican caring for her chicks with flecks of its own flesh and blood. We are also reminded of the Holy Spirit as personified Love. This Spirit hovered over the waters of creation, made possible the miracles and resurrection of Christ, preserves the Church in the truth, and gives efficacy to the sacraments. The triune nature of the family: father, mother and child is a figure for the divine Trinity. The love of husband and wife signifies the relationship of Christ, the divine bridegroom, to his bride, the Church. Husband and wife are figures for the dynamism and tension we find in nature. But the two become one flesh, the creative poles of the universe are joined. As Christians we do not subscribe to an Oriental or pagan dualism. The apparent ying-yang in vogue within Eastern philosophies has no quarter in the concept of the Judeo-Christian deity.

God is good. Evil is a privation and it has no place in God. God always takes the initiative and has infinite power or jurisdiction. The devil is a creature and by definition not creative. Evil cannot be creative, only corruptive. The initiative of God is most evident first in creation itself and then in the new creation made possible by Christ. God comes into the world and joins himself to his creation in a holy virgin. The Creator and creation are made one. The course of salvation history changes. While a child is usually conceived though sexual congress; in this case the Holy Spirit conceives the Christ in an immaculate virgin. Indeed, Mary becomes the most famous virgin in the history of the world. This creative act gives a special consecration to virginity and celibate love, realized in Mary, then in good St. Joseph and finally in the ultimate model of Jesus Christ.

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Priestly Celibacy – Virginal Marriage?

Posted on August 17, 2013 by Father Joe

The ritual used for the consecration of virgins praises marriage as a great natural blessing that points to the union of Christ with his bride, the Church. This acknowledgment in such a ceremony might seem strange but it illustrates the sensible attitude that celibacy is not a repudiation of the goodness of marriage. Marriage is a sacrament, a mystery foreshadowing and yet also participating in something unseen and greater than itself. By comparison, is it proper to treat consecrated virginity as something equivalent to a sacrament? Unlike marriage, celibacy is not ranked as a sacrament of the Church, at least not as something that hangs by itself. The woman virgin pledges herself to her groom, Christ. The priest signifies Christ bonded to his spouse, the Church. It is only when connected to holy orders or to consecrated religious life that virginity and/or celibacy seems to take to itself a quasi-sacramental quality. This is actually a core reason why some of us strenuously want to keep the association in priesthood as absolute as possible, with few exceptions.

Is a spiritual marriage in any way a real marriage? It should be noted, that while the formal consecration of virgins has been restored, the ritual was suppressed for some time. The ceremonial for a consecration of virginity resembles a wedding. One of the difficulties with this institution of virgins (outside of a religious house) was accountability. How does the Church insure their past, present and future virginity. These women live and work in the word. They take secular jobs and have to pay their own bills. There is no religious community to help sustain them. The Church worried that these women might have settled for virginity because of a lack of opportunity or because a tragedy left them as spinsters. Note that spiritual or moral virginity after violation would not satisfy the requirements for this consecration of virgins. If I recall correctly, the woman must be physically intact, never having had sexual intercourse. Given modern promiscuity, this consecration is very rare today, indeed. This is where the similarity with priestly celibacy breaks down. Indeed, this material or physical virginity is not mandated for sisters and nuns, either; there is a history of widows entering religious life. St. Mother Seton would be among these. She was a wife and mother. Many convents celebrate a ritual akin to a marital ceremony; the young woman approaches the altar in a bridal dress, makes her promises, is given the habit of the community and her hair is cut. Some traditional communities will place the cut hair in a wooden box. I knew parents who cherished one of these cases as a remembrance of their daughter pledging herself to Christ. Women religious, as I said, need not be physical virgins, although many of them are, and they embrace a life of celibate love and obedience to their religious superior. While we would hope that our candidates for the priesthood are virgins, such is not mandatory. They might be widowers. If they were “bad boys,” they might still be invited into the celibate priesthood, as long as they exhibit repentance and make recourse to the Sacrament of Penance.

I read one authority who suggested that marriage between a man and woman and the spiritual marriage of a consecrated virgin or a female religious or possibly a celibate priest or deacon were varying forms of the sacrament of marriage. I find this argument problematical. The sacrament of marriage overlaps or is transposed over the natural bond. A man and woman witness marriage with their vows and with their bodies. Just as we argue that only a man can marry a woman, rejecting same-sex unions, there is just no getting around the issue of physicality and complementarity. Marriages are consummated, not before a judge or before a priest and altar. They are consummated and made real or permanent in the marriage bed. The chief purpose of marriage has frequently been listed as propagation. This was not to malign the good of fidelity but there has always be a high level of awe connected to human participation in the act of creation. While there is an element of physicality in virginity or celibacy, it is only as negation or in the suppression of this faculty. Spiritual marriage, either to Christ or to the Church, may have all sorts of intangible benefits; but it remains a mystery analogous to matrimony, not materially equivalent. Further, while this analogy is often applied to nuns as brides of Christ and to priests wedded to the Church, the language becomes more strained for religious brothers outside the priesthood. It is true that if the priest is one with the groom Christ, then the congregation (men and women) collectively play the role of bride. This is tolerated of the Church but not of the minister. As a matter of fact, it plays into the argument against women priests or priestesses. As a female she cannot signify Christ the groom, and thus the realization of priestesses would usher forth a kind of sacramental lesbianism.

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Priestly Celibacy – Consecrated Virginity

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Father Joe

Restored in 1970 and attributed to Pope Leo the Great, our esteem for priestly celibacy can be amplified by a parallel ritual and promise made by women who are consecrated as perpetual virgins. We read:

“You have poured out your grace upon all peoples. You have adopted as heirs of the new covenant sons and daughters from every nation under heaven, countless as the stars. Your children are born, not of human birth, nor of man’s desire, but of your Spirit. Among your many gifts you give to some the grace of virginity. Yet the honor of marriage is in no way lessened. As it was in the beginning, your first blessing still remains upon this holy union. Yet your loving wisdom chooses those who make sacrifice of marriage for the sake of the love of which it is a sign. They renounce the joys of human marriage, but cherish all that it foreshadows. Those who choose chastity have looked upon the face of Christ, its origin and inspiration. They give themselves wholly to Christ, the son of the ever-virgin Mary, and the heavenly Bridegroom of those who in his honor dedicate themselves to lasting virginity.”

Pledged to say the Liturgy of the Hours and to regularly participate at Mass, these wonderful women must make their own way in the world while vowing themselves as brides of Christ. Suppressed for a time, it is fitting that this vocation should be restored in a day and age when most do not prize virginity. Much that is said about it could also be said of priestly celibacy, although the priest is signified on the male or groom side of the analogy. Those who fault priestly celibacy would even more ruthlessly attack consecrated virgins. However, this opposition is more the reason why both celibacy and virginity must be preserved as constitutive features for callings in the Church.

Note that virginity is accented as a great honor or benefit. It makes possible an elevation of dignity. If celibacy were a miserable sacrifice, one would hardly know it from the joyous ritual. The young woman is dressed in a wedding gown. She will be presented with a ring and a veil. I recall recently seeing photographs of a beautiful young woman being consecrated to perpetual virginity. Her friends and family were excited and happy for her. Others objected to the ceremony and what it would entail. Controversy was bred because many really no longer believe. They thought she was wasting her life. She would never marry and from that day forward would never date or pursue a romantic interest. All her talk about a spiritual spouse in Christ angered the critics. Did she hate men? What was wrong with her maternal instinct? Jesus was no where to be seen, if he even still existed, how could he be a husband to her? Their practical atheism was full in force: invisible equals absent. Hers was a relationship with the Lord that had blossomed; theirs, if they ever believed, had been aborted or feigned altogether. Those who did not understand were said to pity her and women like her. The same negative sentiment is held out for priests who are faithful to their celibacy. But the happy priest views it as a treasure, a great prize, yes, even as an exultation. The traditional warning for the celibate was to guard against pride.

It cannot be denied that there were abuses in the traditional negativity toward marriage. While it is a great mystery that signifies the unity of Christ with his Church and an awesome participation in the creative work of God; the mechanics of the marital act externally resemble the sexual congress of animals. The Church counsels that passion and not lust should accompany the act, but this admonition falls largely on deaf ears. Human bodies are objectified and made interchangeable. Viagra facilitates erections and contraception insures infertility. Sex is separated from marriage, first in fornication and cohabitation, and second in adultery. Pornography makes possible a voyeurism over interaction; indeed, it establishes a virtual adultery. Critics fail to understand virginity and priestly celibacy just as they generally confuse the meaning of sexual love in marriage.

A Christian culture and society has collapsed all around us into a neo-pagan one. Values have not merely shifted but in some cases, reversed. Virginity was once regarded as such a premium that theologians had to make concerted efforts to protect and support matrimony. But today it is virginity that is spurned while marriage, or at least sexual congress, is paraded as essential and in unqualified demand.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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