In October last year, a
synod of 184 bishops met at the Vatican to discuss the future of the
Church in the Amazon. It was argued that older, married men should be
allowed to become priests. Estimates show that at least 85% of
villages in the Amazon are unable to celebrate mass every week as a
result of a shortage of priests. Some are said to only see a priest
once a year.
However, the married men
would need to be men who are particularly well-respected and would
preferably come from the indigenous communities where they intend to
work.
The decision needed the
Pope's approval to be implemented. Catholic priests are required to
abide by the rule of celibacy upon ordination except in cases where
married Anglican ministers have converted.
But the conservative wing
of the Catholic Church – particularly in Europe and North America –
spoke out against the idea, arguing that this could lead to the
global abolition of celibacy.
In response, Pope Francis
has just ruled against ordaining married men in the Amazon region as
a means of addressing the shortage of Catholic priests. Also, the
Pope announced he had decided not to allow women to serve as deacons,
a lower rank than priest – but that is a topic for a different blog
entry.
The obvious need of the
faithful has been short circuited by this papal decision. Is this
denial a positive affirmation of the faith or is it another denial of
needed change? I wonder.
First of all, I must
establish I am not a Catholic, and any views I express here are those
perspectives of an outsider looking in. I am not trying to influence
Catholic beliefs or push for any change. I approach this subject as
something I have always questioned – no more and no less.
Saying that, I have always
wondered why priestly celibacy, rooted in tradition and canon law,
not in Catholic dogma, is still a part of the Pope's requirements for
priesthood. I understand the general religious theory that celibacy
allows priests time and energy to focus completely on their flock and
to emulate Jesus more faithfully. However, where did that idea
originate and how much of the tradition is rooted in dated and
archaic understandings?
Christian Celibacy
As expected, I found the
roots of celibacy requirements in Jesus Christ: According to the
Bible, Jesus was an unmarried virgin. In the Bible, Jesus is often
likened to a bridegroom whose bride is the Church. From a spiritual
perspective, priests are called to act as another Christ, which
includes his celibate lifestyle. Many of the early martyrs and church
fathers emulated his life of chastity.
One such passage from the
Bible (of which there are many) shows support for celibacy … and
also for marriage:
1 Corinthians 7:32-40
ESV
“I want you to be
free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of
the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious
about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are
divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the
things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the
married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her
husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint
upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided
devotion to the Lord. If anyone thinks that he is not behaving
properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has
to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. ...”
St. Paul Center for
Catholic scripture study also reveals “the Catholic priest is
celibate in order to be freed for fatherhood.” Priests renounce
natural fatherhood in order to more perfectly image the supernatural
fatherhood of God. Fr. Carter Griffin, rector of Saint John Paul II
Seminary in Washington, DC. and author of Why Celibacy?:
Reclaiming the Fatherhood of the Priest says …
“While God’s
fatherhood looks different than the natural fatherhood we’re
familiar with, his role as Father is mysteriously more true and
complete than fathers who generate natural life. Every other image of
fatherhood is a faint echo of the supernatural fatherhood of God.”
This belief admits priests
still fall short of God's example, but it supports celibate priests
who more closely mirror this complete role of “father.” Like God
the Father, they give of themselves entirely for the sake of a
supernatural fatherhood.
“Celibacy, lived
well, can offer a great deal of support to a priest who wishes to
exercise generous, self-giving love. A celibate heart is open to all,
without preference.
-- Fr.
Carter Griffin, Why Celibacy?
Yet, Judaism has always
valued family life, and many ritual observances were centered on the
family. Also, the first head of the Catholic Church (effectively the
first pope), Peter, was married, as were many of the other apostles
during Jesus' time. But in the New Testament, marriage was seen as a
holy option for those who would otherwise have trouble controlling
their sexual urges.
Kim Haines-Eitzen,
professor of Early Christianity at Cornell University, explains
Greco-Roman origins of Christianity …
“From Greco-Roman
philosophies, Christian writers adopted ideals of self-control
(“enkrateia” in Greek) and withdrawal (“anachoresis”
a term that came to be applied to Christian hermits). Discipline and
self-control meant control over one’s emotions, thoughts and
behaviors as well as, in some cases, careful attention to what one
ate and drank, how attached one was to possessions and the control of
one’s sexual desire.”
(Kim
Haines-Eitzen. “How did celibacy become mandatory for priests?”
The Conversation. March 26, 2017.)
Mark Shea, the author of
Making Senses Out of Scripture: Reading the Bible as the First
Christians Did, explains …
"What you find
right at the beginning of the church is that, on the one hand,
marriage is seen as a good and virginity is seen as a higher good.
But by the Middle Ages, many priests treated their calling as a
'family business,' giving preference to their sons for plum positions
and trying to edge out the competition to protect their legacy.
Because of this practice, the Church formally banned the practice of
priests marrying about 1,000 years ago.”
Although Christian
“clergy,” such as bishops and deacons, begin to appear around the
year A.D. 100 in early Christian communities, priests emerge as
Christian leaders only much later. Priests came to be the ordained
clergy tasked with officiating rituals like the Eucharist or Lord’s
Supper, also known as Communion.
Haines-Eitzen further
explains the priestly development …
“Over time, priestly
celibacy became a serious point of disagreement between the Eastern
Orthodox and the Western Roman Catholic churches and contributed to
the Great Schism between the two in A.D. 1054. Pope Gregory VII
attempted to mandate priestly celibacy, but the practice was
contested widely by Christians in the Orthodox Eastern Mediterranean
world.
“Five centuries
later, the issue was once again at the forefront of debate when it
became a significant factor in the Protestant split from Catholicism
during the Reformation.”
(Kim
Haines-Eitzen. “How did celibacy become mandatory for priests?”
The Conversation. March 26, 2017.)
There have always been
exceptions to the celibate rule within Roman Catholicism as, for
example, among married priests from other denominations of
Christianity who convert to Catholicism. There are still a few
married Catholic priests: Episcopal and Lutheran priests who were
married and then converted to Roman Catholicism can be ordained, and
men in the Eastern Rites, such as the Ukrainian Church, can marry
before becoming ordained.
Reasons For Change
With a shortage of priests
looming, many favor eliminating the celibacy requirement as a
possible solution. Statistics from the Washington, DC: Center for
Applied Research in the Apostolate report from1980 to 2012, the ratio
of Catholics per priest increased globally, with the number of
Catholics per priest going from 1,895 to 3,126." In 2014, 49,153
parishes in the world had no resident priest pastor. And, between
1970 and 2017, the number of priests declined from 419,728 to
414,582.
Other reasons for
eliminating the rule exist. For example, in a 2012 study in the
Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community,
researchers found that a sizeable minority of priests had sexual
relationships, some with men and some with women, during their
tenure, and 30 percent admitted to masturbation. Why tolerate or
simply ignore the obvious conflicts at hand? Some favor legitimacy
over indifference.
Others feel it is
difficult for celibate priests to offer wise and mature counsel on
issues of sexual relationships to their parishioners. In other words,
celibate priests can be sexually immature. A.W. Richard Sipe, a
sociologist and former Benedictine monk who has been married for 43
years, says …
"The Catholic
priesthood, in a sense, fosters a psychosexual immaturity by imposing
celibacy.”
Other research has
suggested that more men would be interested in priesthood if celibacy
became optional. They argue celibacy is so difficult for many men
that it dissuades people from the priesthood.
Conclusions?
I will give only Pope
Francis's views on his recent decision. The reader can draw his or
her own conclusions. The Pope stopped short of allowing the
ordination of married men as priests in the Amazon, where there are
severe shortages of clergy, calling instead for ordained ministers to
come to the region and work alongside lay preachers.
Francis announced the
decision in a lengthy document, titled "Beloved Amazon,"
You can read it in its entirety by clicking here: https://zenit.org/articles/full-text-of-querida-amazonia-dear-amazon-pope-francis-post-synodal-exhortation-on-the-amazon-2/
Francis has long said he
appreciates the discipline and the gift of celibacy, and he didn't
feel he could make such a sweeping change. However, he has also
expressed sympathy for the plight of the Amazonian faithful, and said
theologians had debated pastoral reasons to consider an exception,
which is possible given that the celibate priesthood is a tradition
of the Roman Catholic Church rather than a matter of doctrine.
No comments:
Post a Comment