Celibacy-- Jewel or Crown of Thorns

TO Pope Paul VI, priestly celibacy is "a crowning jewel" of the Roman Catholic Church. To most former priests, and even to many who have not left clerical ranks, it is more like a crown of thorns. The truth may lie somewhat prosaically between these two opinions. In fact, mandatory celibacy for priests and nuns is not a defined doctrine of the church but a spiritual discipline that only over the course of centuries assumed the force of ecclesiastical law.

Jesus himself was not married; biblical scholars assume that most of his disciples were, since the Judaism of the time frowned upon bachelorhood. There is good reason to believe that the majority of priests and bishops during the first four centuries of Christianity were married; so were many Popes, the last of whom was Adrian II in the 9th century.

One reason that celibacy eventually became the rule for clerics was early Christianity's puritanical view of sex, even within marriage, as an evil except for procreation. "I feel that nothing more turns the masculine mind from the heights," wrote St. Augustine, the dominant voice of Christian theology until the Middle Ages, "than female blandishment and that contact of bodies without which a wife may not be had." At the same time as this austere view took root, the church saw the growth of monastic communities for men and women in which chastity, along with poverty and obedience, was regarded as a virtue essential to those who would give their lives to God.

At the urging of Popes and councils, monastic austerity was gradually forced upon the clergy as a whole. Pope Benedict VIII in 1018 formally forbade priestly marriages; the prohibition was solemnly extended by the First Lateran Council of 1123. The rule, however, was not easy to enforce. Until the Reformation, parish priests frequently scandalized the faithful by taking wives, or at least keeping mistresses and concubines, as did Popes and cardinals. After Protestantism rejected celibacy for the ministry as unnatural and unnecessary, the Council of Trent declared it an "objectively superior state of life" and imposed excommunication on priests or nuns who violated the canon laws prohibiting marriage.

It is an undeniable fact that celibacy is supported by nearly 1,000 years of ecclesiastical tradition, which ought not to be lightly overthrown. Biblical support for the church's rule rests in part on the person of Jesus--the model and ideal of the servant-priest--who spoke (in Matthew 19: 12) of "those who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake." Since the church prohibits castration, some scholars interpret the clause to mean a willing acceptance of the symbolic knife of voluntary chastity. Roman theologians contend that celibacy, if freely adopted, contributes to a deep and fulfilling mystical relationship with God. Beyond that, a married priest might well be torn between his obligations to God and his duty to his family. And just as a practical matter, how could the church today provide the funds to support the families of priests? Celibacy advocates argue also that a priest is, or should be, a man set apart from the passions and concerns of ordinary men, and abstention from marriage is a proper sign of his sacerdotal distinction.

Pope Paul's opponents on the issue concede the practical difficulties (which might, however, be alleviated if priests were allowed to support themselves in some secular line of work). As for the Scriptural evidence, some modern exegetes argue that Christ's speech about eunuchs refers to marital fidelity rather than celibacy. Both the ancient Eastern Orthodox churches and the Eastern Rite communities in union with Rome have always allowed for married priests (but not monks or bishops). In recent years, moreover, the church has ordained married converts from the Protestant ministry. Theologically, Pope Paul's critics contend that the church has tended to confuse two separate vocations: priesthood and celibacy. Both are considered gifts of God, but why should they always be given to the same person? A vow of chastity may be necessary for the discipline of a religious order, but is it equally essential for the parish ministry? Why should there not be married priests as well as celibate ones?

These are the questions raised by the critics of celibacy, notably the Dutch church. A final answer may not be given in Pope Paul's lifetime, but the issue is becoming ever more urgent.

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