Married priests, ritual purity, and priestly celibacy

While there is a good deal of reflection (some good, most bad) in the secular media, as well as in Catholic media, on the value and role of priestly celibacy in the Church, there is yet very little theological consideration of the topic.

Nearly every argument for or against priestly celibacy is related either to practical concerns (i.e. “we will get more priests,” or “they will not have time to care for family and parish”) or to devotional thoughts (i.e. “marriage is given by God to all,” or “an undivided heart”). Now, there is certainly something to be said for both practical and devotional points, but we must first consider something of the theology behind celibacy if we are to have any hope of discussing the topic intelligently.

Interestingly, the question of clerical continence for married priests and deacons may be of great aid in helping us to consider the doctrine behind the discipline of priestly celibacy.

Why was Matthias chosen by lots?

May 14^th, Feast of St. Matthias

And they gave them lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. (Acts 1:26)

After the fall of Judas from the apostolic college, it was necessary for a successor to be elected. However, it is most striking to note that the choice between either Joseph called Barsabas (surnamed Justus) and Matthias was not made by the people, nor by the eleven, nor even by Peter himself; rather, Matthias was chosen by lots.

If Matthias was selected in this manner, the critic might ask, “Why does the Church not employ this means in our own day for the selection of bishops?” The answer to this question reveals just how necessary Pentecost was.

On the authority of bishops, from St. Ignatius of Antioch

October 17^th, Feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch

On December 20^th, in the Roman Martyrology, we read: “At Rome, the passion of St. Ignatius, Bishop and Martyr; he was the third after St. Peter the Apostle to rule the Church of Antioch, and in the persecution of Trajan was condemned to the beasts and sent to Rome in fetters. There he was afflicted and tortured by the most cruel torments in the very presence of the Senate. Finally he was cast to the lions and, ground by their teeth, became a sacrifice for Christ.”

 St. Ignatius of Antioch has rightly been called the “Doctor of Unity” – both insofar as he brilliantly set forth the doctrine of the unity of the person of Christ in two natures, and as he defended the unity of the Christian people within the hierarchy of the Church. As the unity of the single person of Christ cannot be properly defended without admitting the diversity of his two natures, so too (we say by analogy) the unity of the Church cannot be maintained without the diversity of hierarchical vocations within the mystical body.

Today, in honor of our saintly Bishop and Martyr, we consider the role of the bishops of the Church – specifically, we do well to call to mind the special relation between the priests and the bishops. [This is particularly important in our days, when many so-called “conservative” priests rebel against the authority of their bishops.]

The Greatest Vocation

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Luke 10:38-42

The episode of Martha and Mary is probably the most well known story of the two women. Moreover, it is also most likely the most well known dinner party our Lord attended (presuming that the wedding feast in Cana was much more than a simple “dinner party”).

The final phrase of the Gospel account – “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” – led many of the Church Fathers, and also St. Thomas Aquinas, to consider the relation between the active and the contemplative lives.

Martha, of course, represents the active life. Mary, the contemplative life. Studying this narrative, theologians have pondered: What is the greatest vocation? I will here present the answer of St. Thomas Aquinas in condensed form, with some small applications to our own day. (See ST II-II, qq.179-184)

Clerical Continence: The Requirement for Worship

The video below from RomeReports highlights a recent conference at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, at which the topic of discussion was the apostolic roots of clerical continence and celibacy.

The key here is that, even when clerics were married (like many of the Apostles, for example), they remained continent (i.e. they abstained from sexual relations) after ordination. This discipline still pertains today, according to Canon 277 of the Code of Canon Law, as leading canonists Dr. Edward Peters and Fr. Brian van Hove, S.J. have recently shown. Peters's article in Studia Canonica is particularly helpful in addressing this matter in a way that is both theological and pastoral.

 

The reason for the discipline of continence for sacred ministers has to do with the long-standing Judeo-Christian connection between abstinence from sexual relations and the offering of sacrifice. Because the one who offers sacrifice (and those who assist him - like the deacon) speaks for the whole community before God, he must be free of any exclusivity in his relations. He is not just for his wife, but is for the whole community. This is why he abstains from sexual relations, even if he is married. The higher calling to worship demands that he sacrifice the great good of marital intimacy.

This is, of course, no slur against marriage or the marital act. Rather, it is a recognition that, with sacred ordination, this man has been re-configured and totally consecrated as a public person to the duty of public worship. He is now completely a "man for others," as Pope John Paul II often said. For this reason, he gives up the great good of marital intimacy so as to be able to stand before God on behalf of the whole community.