Celibacy
CELIBACY
BASIC R.C. BELIEF Celibacy, or remaining in an unmarried state, is a law of the church for her clergy. It was followed by some as early as the 3rd and 4th century, but until the 12th century priests could contract valid marriages. In 1123, Pope Calixtus II ordered all priests’ marriages broken. This was backed up by Innocent II when he declared all priests’ marriages null and void.
From EXPLANATION OF CATHOLIC MORALS, p. 149. “Celibates are not chaste: celibacy is not necessarily chastity; by a large majority. . .one who takes the vow of celibacy does not break it by sinning against the sixth commandment. He is true to it until he weds. Quoted in CATHOLICISM AGAINST ITSELF, Lambert. (Illicit sex doesn’t transgress the law of celibacy; only marriage can do that.)
POST VATICAN II Recently there has been talk of the possibility of a relaxing of the law of celibacy. A Knights of Columbus book states that a few married Protestant ministers converted to Rome and were permitted to continue married. In Nov., 1978, Pope John Paul II reaffirmed the traditional rule of celibacy for Roman Catholic priests.
Repealing this law would scandalize many Roman Catholics who consider the celibate state holier than the married state, as well as be a hardship on parish budgets. Married priests would have to set a good example and have large families.
A homosexual priest in Philadelphia admitted his sex preference during an interview on TV but stated that he didn’t practice homosexuality “because he was celibate.”
The Vatican II document OPTATIUM TOTIUS (10/28/65) states, “Virginal consecration to Christ is of greater excellence than Christian marriage.”
In San Francisco in September 1987, pope John Paul II encouraged homosexuals to live a celibate life.
CHRISTIAN COMMENT The scripture teaches that bishops should be the husband of one wife; forbidding to marry is among the doctrine of devils that will be taught (I Timothy 3:2; 4:1-3). Matthew 8:14 and I Corinthians 9:5 teach that Peter had a wife.
SECULAR JOURNALS From LOS ANGELES TIMES. “Last November (1985), Jesuit priest Terrence Sweeney sent a four question survey to 312 bishops in the U.S. and the 122 Cardinals throughout the world. Included in the questions was one asking whether they approved of changes in the church’s traditional stand requiring celibacy for priests.
Rather than comply with Vatican pressure and a command from superiors to abandon and destroy his survey, Sweeney resigned from the Society of Jesus.
He has already been censured by Los Angeles Archibishop Roger Mahoney.
From THE ORLANDO SENTINEL (8/24/86): “According to a survey conducted for the Archdiocese of Miami, 60% of the respondents favored allowing priests to marry. An archdiocesan spokesperson, Marsha Whelan, said, `My sense is we’re right in there. . . that, nationally, we fit in with how most Catholics think. . .'”
From THE ORLANDO SENTINEL (8/16/86): “In an essay printed in ST. ANTHONY MESSENGER, a national Franciscan magazine, Priest William Wells said that the law of celibacy was routinely flouted by many priests, some of whom have maried secretly and who pass off their wives as live-in housekeepers in the rectory. Others have lovers, he adds.
“The sanctions against sexual activity for priests, Wells suggests, have led to `rampant psychosexual problems’ including an upsurge in reported cases of Catholic clergy involved in child molestation and a `noticeable increase in the number of gay seminarians’ at Catholic divinity schools.”
From San Diego TRIBUNE, 8/17/90 (page 25). “Ex-Atlanta archbishop intended to disclose affair, woman’s lawyer says. Former Roman Catholic archbishop Eugene Marino said he intended to tell everyone `including the pope’ about his two-year love affair with a church worker who claims she is his wife, the woman’s lawyer said.
“Vickie Long…said that church officials knew of the affair from its beginning in the summer of 1988. `Archbishop Marino and I exchanged vows in Decemnber 1988 and I have considered myself to be married to him since that time.’
“Long’s lawyer charged at a news conference that church officials eager to split up the couple had sought to convince Long that Marino was insane.
“Long’s news conference came a day after an Atlanta television station reported Marino was admitted to a psychiatric hospital last week after attemtting suicide. The archdiocese has declined to comment on the report.
“Marino was the highest ranking black Roman Catholic in the United States. His successor, Bishop James Lyke, said that the main reason for Marino’s resignation was the Long affair. Since then, evidence of affairs between Long, another priest and a nun have emerged.”
From GREENVILLE NEWS, 8.12.90. “Up to half of Roman Catholic priests in the United States do not uphold their vows of celibacy, according to estimates from a twenty-five-year study by a former Roman Catholicm priest who is now a psychotherapist. W. Richard Sipe’s study indicates that 20% of the priests have a clear pattern of heterosexual behaviour, 10% to 13% are homosexually active, and 6% are involved sexually with minors. While half of priests generally support the idea of celibacy, only 2% fully achieve it, Sipe says.”