Keeping Vows

Celibacy is forever

There was a time not so long ago when few Roman Catholic priests dared request release from their vows. Fewer still were granted such a request. But since the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church has faced a flood of applications for "laicization," and agitation in favor of making the celibacy rule optional continues.

Last week Pope John Paul II stated in the strongest possible terms that the tradition, dating back 16 centuries, will continue throughout his pontificate. The celibacy rule, he declared, "constitutes a characteristic, a peculiarity, and a heritage of the Latin Catholic Church, a tradition to which she owes much and in which she is resolved to persevere, in spite of all the difficulties ... and in spite of the various symptoms of weakness and crisis in individual priests."

The words came in the customary papal message to priests upon their Holy Thursday renewal of vows, but to Vatican watchers the occasion was anything but routine. Along with the 8,000-word statement on the priesthood, two chapters of which were a virtual mini-encyclical on celibacy, John Paul issued a 1,600-word letter to the world's bishops, exhorting them to make certain that priests follow his teachings. Only the Vatican has the power to release a priest from his vows. During John Paul's half year as Pope, the Vatican has received more than 300 petitions from individual priests. So far he has refused to endorse a single one. By contrast, in 15 years Pope Paul VI got 32,357 requests, granting all but 1,033 of them.

In John Paul's view, men spend years preparing to take vows, and once they have done so, that commitment should be indissoluble. He spoke of "the inner maturity" and "personal dignity" of "keeping one's promise to Christ, made through a conscious and free commitment to celibacy for the whole of one's life." A priest, he then added, should not seek an "administrative" remedy, as though a matter of conscience were not involved.

If John Paul continues his freeze on laicization, says one prelate familiar with Vatican processing, "I am sure that many priests will just walk out as they did in precouncil years." (Priests who leave without permission and then marry, as many do, are excommunicated.)

The surprise was not that the Pope reaffirmed the rule, but that he did it so dramatically and so early in his reign. Despite all the popular pressure against the policy, he clearly feels that the church will be stronger in the long run if it stands by its rigorous traditions.

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