Last week I wrote about the idea of Women Priests (bottom line: could never happen). This week’s topic is married priests. That is a totally different kettle of fish!

Priest celibacy is a matter of discipline whereas the male priesthood is a matter of doctrine. The requirement for priestly celibacy has changed over time and could change again. It is completely permissible for faithful Catholics to discuss the pros and cons of it and to respectfully hold personal viewpoints which differ from the current practice.

There is a lot of discussion among the laity on this topic. In fact, we have married priests right now. Some Eastern Catholic Churches allow married men to become priests. In those cases they may not remarry if their wife dies and only unmarried men may be ordained bishops.

Latin Rite Catholics also have married priests. This is done via papal dispensation only for married priests converting from Anglicanism and similar situations. One of the many blogs I closely follow is by Father Dwight Longenecker, an Anglican priest convert. The purpose of these dispensations is not to generally introduce non-celibate priests, but as one-time actions to heal schisms. The recently announced Anglican Ordinariate makes use of this.

While there are some married priests as described above, it is a rarity among the 410,000 priests worldwide (40,000 in the US). I don’t know of any situation permitting a married bishop.

A vow of celibacy was not always required. It is generally believed that all the Apostles other than John were married. This is not really that surprising if you consider the time and circumstances. It is also possible that some Apostles may have left their families (see Luke 18:28-30).

Later as the early Church formed, celibacy became the norm. Paul was not married. In his letter to the Corinthians he said:

I should like you to be free of anxieties. An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided.

I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to impose a restraint upon you, but for the sake of propriety and adherence to the Lord without distraction.

So then, the one who marries his virgin does well; the one who does not marry her will do better.

1 Corinthians 7:32-33,35,38

Further back, Jesus – the one true High Priest – spoke of celibacy as a gift:

He answered, “Not all can accept [this] word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”

Matthew 19:11-12

Celibacy was the norm in the early Church. In 305 it was explicitly addressed by the Council of Elvira (and again in 390 by the Council of Carthage).

Should priests now be allowed to marry? Some reasons given are: it would reduce the priest shortage, it would reduce temptations for priests to take scandalous actions and it would help priests be better counselors for the vocation of marriage. These are of course, “practical” not theological reasons. In my opinion, they are all false. Anglicans priests may be married and they have a similar shortage. It has been shown that celibacy has very little to do with the sex scandal. There are many areas in which people teach, coach or counsel but they themselves are not practitioners.

Looking only at the practical issues, I would say the biggest obstacle to married priests is that they simply do not have the time for a family. Were they to make the time necessary, they would have far less time for the work of the Church. More married priests would be necessary to accomplish the same service of fewer celibate priests.

Another practical issue that can not be avoided is cost. Not just because more would be needed than the equivalent celibate priests, but because their families would have to be supported. Certainly this can be done, but it would necessarily take money away from other important work.

To me the most important reason for celibacy is holiness. Our priests are 100% dedicated to the work of the Church. Their commitment and self-denial disciplines their body and spirit. We are deeply blessed to have these men who have answered their call to this vocation.

Finally, there is the vocation of deacon. They may be ordained if married (but may not marry or remarry once ordained). They too are a great blessing, may perform many of the functions of priests and also have a rigorous education. The one *big* difference is that they do not act in persona Christi consecrating the Eucharist or absolving sins (see Omnium in Mentem).

I have to admit that before I was Catholic, my thinking on priest celibacy was different. Now that I have a much better (yet far from complete) understanding of the vocations, sacraments and Church history I see this differently. If you feel so inclined, leave your thoughts in the comments.

You hear it all the time. When will the Catholic Church ordain women? It is only a matter of time. The “old boys club” can not go on forever.

There are many flawed arguments why Catholics should ordain women priests. Such arguments are akin to arguments for swapping the colors of the sky and grass or accepting the Trinity as three separate and independent persons. It is simply impossible in the Church Jesus founded which remains faithful to Him.

Jesus chose only men to be His Apostles. He did this at a time when pagan priestesses were common. Not that Jesus cared about culture or convention. He was a rebel who frequently acted in opposition to established norms. Our Lord could have easily chosen from quiet a number of women followers. Blessed Mary would seem to be a much stronger “candidate” for the priesthood than those chosen as Apostles.

Jesus, the one true High Priest, chose only men as priests of His Church – the Catholic Church. No one has the authority to change that. This was addressed in 1994 in an Apostolic Letter entitled Ordinatio Sacerdotalis 4 (“priestly ordination”):

Although the teaching that priestly ordination is to be reserved to men alone has been preserved by the constant and universal Tradition of the Church and firmly taught by the Magisterium in its more recent documents, at the present time in some places it is nonetheless considered still open to debate, or the Church’s judgment that women are not to be admitted to ordination is considered to have a merely disciplinary force. Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Luke 22:32), I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.

Pope John Paul II

Understand that this doctrine is not subject to change, ever. It is not a matter of discipline that priestly celibacy is. In contrast, while that is unlikely to change, it theoretically could. It is also not improper for Catholics to respectfully discuss priestly celibacy (but it would be wrong to mount a campaign, organize demonstrators, attack the Magisterium, try to “pressure” the Church, and so on). No, the so called issue of “women priests” is settled and as Pope John Paul II said “this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.”

Catholic (and Eastern Orthodox) priests have a greater role than Protestant ministers. Priests, with authority passed from the Apostles, act sacramentally in persona Christi (the person of Christ). Protestant ministers do not claim this. Even so, not all Protestant churches ordain women.

Opponents of the Church often claim Catholic women are not respected by the Church (which is only faithfully following Christ). They also claim that we venerate Mary too much, totally missing the irony. No, the male priesthood instituted by Jesus Himself is in no way disrespectful of women.

All the baptized, men and women alike, share equally in the dignity, freedom and responsibility of the children of God…   Women are called to bring to the family, to society and to the Church, characteristics which are their own and which they alone can give – their gentle warmth and untiring generosity, their love for detail, their quick-wittedness and intuition, their simple and deep piety, their constancy…   A woman’s femininity is genuine only if she is aware of the beauty of this contribution for which there is no substitute – and if she incorporates it into her own life.

St. Josemaría Escrivá, Conversations, 14 and 87

If you are looking for a church inclusive of ordained women clergy, recognition that an abortion decision is truly a personal choice, modern perspectives on birth control, tolerance of sexual preferences and lifestyles, understanding of living arrangements that work for you, and know – deep in your heart – that living as a good person is all that really matters…   then the Catholic Church will not meet your requirements.

Do you seek the the one Church Jesus founded, the fullness of the Christian faith, the unchanging truth and unwavering commitment to the word of God? If yes, then come home to the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is not a church for the times. It is the Church for all time.

Further Reading: Catholic Answers has a good article entitled Why No Women’s Ordination by Michael J. Tortolani that delves into the flawed arguments for women priests.