Celibacy of the priesthood is a church strength, not a liability

Mpls (red) Star Tribune ^ | 4/3/02 | Katherine Kersten

[Valin]

In the wake of the sex abuse scandal among Catholic priests, some Americans are calling for an end to the celibate priesthood. They regard celibacy as self-evidently the source of the problem.

This is not surprising. In our sex-drenched culture, celibacy is a deeply alien notion. But the church has viewed celibacy as important to priesthood for at least 1,000 years. In the current rush to judgment, few have paused to ask why.

[Valin]

And here's the Op-ed from 4/6/02 edition

The myth of priestly celibacy

Reading Katherine Kersten's April 3 Commentary article regarding her expectation of priests, I find myself drowning in the hypocrisy of the myth of priestly celibacy. Celibacy exists in the sense of bachelorhood, of course, in the church. But celibacy as chastity . . . as being saints like Francis and angels like Mother Teresa? I don't think so!

Kersten states that "the church has viewed celibacy as important to priesthood for at least 1,000 years." Sure, and lying about it has been around all that time too. Have you ever read Chaucer? Do you know about Martin Luther?

Kersten, dear readers, priests: Consider how you'd feel if you were a parent, who, being saturated with images and stories about the pervasive problem of priestly sexual abuse of children, would have to send a 7-year-old to talk alone to a priest, knowing that he or she will be expected to talk about any (natural) erotic feelings or behaviors, and have to say they're sorry when they're not, and have to promise to try and never do it again (which they don't mean).

And maybe these parents know, but are not acknowledging, that the child has seen these sickening and frightening television stories, or heard them from other kids. And maybe the kid is terrified, or grossed out, and the parents feel sick inside when they "make" the kid go do this.

Or consider the teenage boy who has read the papers, seen on TV the stories of "nice guy priests" who rape boys, and heard about parents who won't believe the victims.
Then, too, imagine how his mom and dad might feel about his discussing masturbation or other sexual matters while alone in the confessional with this man. Also, don't forget that girls are victims of priests too.

Maybe Kersten and I are children of the '60s, and believe that the appearance of love solves everything. Her commentary strikes me as being a lot like the summer of love, when we wore flowers and tossed balloons and dope was destroying minds all around us, but we chanted and danced and pretended that everything was groovy . . . . One can hope that more responsible people will work to make our society and the church be a sanctuary for children -- and, oh yes, women and homosexuals too.

Perhaps there will eventually be a rite of confession for people who will not address evil when it's in front of their faces.

-- Nancy Coleman, St. Louis Park. Retired therapist.

© Copyright 2002 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Kersten states that "the church has viewed celibacy as important to priesthood for at least 1,000 years." Sure, and lying about it has been around all that time too. Have you ever read Chaucer? Do you know about Martin Luther?

As a matter of fact we do know about Luther. We also know about Melchisedech. Elias, John the Baptist, Paul, Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary and many others.

Her commentary strikes me as being a lot like the summer of love, when we wore flowers and tossed balloons and dope was destroying minds all around us, but we chanted and danced and pretended that everything was groovy . . . .

Sounds like Nancy did more than dope.

[IncredibleHulk]

It has taken the Church a 1000 years to think up all that bunk Kirsten has just blessed us with but the truth is far more simple. The priesthood was pasted from father to son for centuries and they built up large holdings. The more successful families collected tithes and offerings from large areas and became enormously wealthy. They had so much money and power that they could tell the Pope where to go and make it stick. To get all the money and regain central power, families were outlawed and the Church appointed priests to the various posts rather than have family holdings.

It was just a greedy power grab.

[RobbyS]

Celibacy for a priest is like a fifth leg on a horse. Everyone seems to have forgotten the command to "Go forth and multiply"

This in a country where a white, middle-class mother with four or five children is regarded as a freak?

[harpo11]

Things I think about if a Priest is allowed to marry:

a). What if he has marital problems that lead to divorce?

Will the Church be asked to pay alimony and child support?

b). What if their children get into all sorts of trouble with the law?

Will the Church be asked to pay for defense costs?

c). Tuition, medical, dental, housing, clothing, cars, insurance, will the Church be asked to fund?

[Valin]

It was just a greedy power grab.

Riiight < /sarcasm>

[RobbyS]

To get all the money and regain central power, families were outlawed and the Church appointed priests to the various posts rather than have family holdings. It was just a greedy power grab.

But of COURSE it was ;-]. The Church SHOULD be a monopoly of the landed nobility and/or its lapdog. But, wait, wasn't that once cause of the French Revolution?

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Another linguistic literalist picking and choosing like they're at a smorgasbord. Seems you've forgotten Matthew 19:12, 26-29; 1 Corinthians 7:8, 32-38. By the way, which Commandment is "Go forth and multiply?" I'll bet you're an admirer of Shawn Kemp, aren't you?

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

I'm glad to see that Nancy is a RETIRED therapist. I hope she uses her retirement to further her own spiritual and intellectual growth.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Amongst other things, familiarize yourself with Canon XXXIII of the Council of Elvira, 295-302 AD. I'll bet you used to sleep a lot in school, didn't you? Maybe you went to one of those alternative joints that let you determine your own curriculum.

[dighton]

IMHO, Katherine Kersten makes a fine, clear case for priestly celibacy.

[kiryandil]

I feel sorry for the Church. They're right in the crosshairs of the Left Wing.

Homo priests bad, homo boy scout leaders good

The dexterity needed by the Left Wing for this hit is astonishing. Brain surgeons should take notes.

[Valin]

Flag

[Myrddin]

I like the LDS church approach to the priesthood. They call a Bishop to serve for 5 years. The man selected is always married, usually has children and has a full time job to support his family. His responsibilities are similar to what is expected of a typical priest in a Roman Catholic parish. It typically adds another 30 to 40 hours a week of meetings to carry out the responsibility. That's on top of his full time employment. An LDS Bishop understands the realities of running a household, caring for wife and children and dealing with a real world job. It makes for a uniquely knowledgeable religious counselor. The typical 5 year service also helps in the knowledge that the burden won't be a perpetual one. One of my bishops was also employed by my company, so I ran into him on a regular basis in the cafeteria.

While the LDS approach produces some very fine bishops, there are still a few cases every year of the same types of problems currently faced by the Roman Catholic church. Allowing priests to marry and have families wouldn't be a detriment in my view. It might actually attract more men into the priesthood.

[jjhunsecker]

WHERE THE BLOODY HELL IN THE BIBLE DOES IT SAY THAT ANYONE, A CLERIC, PRIEST OR THE APOSTLES SHALL BE CELIBANT? THAT IS SOME IDIOTIC DICTUM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. ALTHOUGH THAT DIDN'T SEEM TO STOP SOME POPES, LIKE ALEXANDER BORGIA, FROM PROCREATION. THE MOST LOGICAL THING TO DO WOULD BE TO MAKE CELIBANCY AN OPTION, THAT WAY A CHOICE COULD BE MADE FOR THE INDIVIDUAL ON HOW TO BEST SERVE GOD. BUT THEN THAT MAKES TOO MUCH SENSE!!!!!!

[CyberAnt]

When Jesus walked on the earth, HE sent out the disciples two by two. Why? Because there is power in agreement.

Since God said, "it is not good for man to be alone".

I think God knows best. Priests should be allowed to marry.

[Rule of Law]

As a matter of fact we do know about Luther. We also know about Melchisedech. Elias, John the Baptist, Paul, Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary and many others.

Certainly there is no biblical requirement for priests to be celibate. Saint Peter was married.

But I'm not Catholic so I don't really care if they want to have celibacy as a requirement.

Of course the attack is not really on celibacy. That's just phase 1. Most of these bad priests (and in spite of the media hysteria, there haven't been all that many)have been homosexual. If the Catholic Church removes the celibacy requirements, the next step will be to say that the Church should allow priests to enter into homosexual "marriages".

[yooper]

"Homo priests bad, homo boy scout leaders good"

Well, there's a difference here. Homo boy scout leaders gravitate to the boy scouts because they're pedophile homos and that's where the boys are. Priests who are involved in this present scandal (which is to say not the vast majority of priests) prey on little boys because that's what they have access to. If there were such a thing as altar girls they would be targets too.

The issue of celibacy is a difficult one. One thing people have to remember is that priests are human beings just like the rest of us and as such are subjected to the same biological inclinations as we all are. Today's priests grew up in the same setting we did, with rampant and easily obtainable pornography and sex fired at them 24/7 from the TV set. They did not grow up in some medieval setting where they were trained as youngsters to be celibate. Are we to expect today's priest to suddenly change and shrug off all of his natural inclinations when he dons the mantle? In my opinion, this is expecting too much from today's young man who aspires to the priesthood.

I'm not Catholic, but I'm married to one. In my opinion, priests should be allowed to marry; at least then when a priest is conducting pre-marital councilling (which I was compelled to attend in order to be married in the church), he would know something about the subject he was lecturing on......

[ipatent]

I grew up as a Catholic. My family is still Catholic. However, they need to let married men be priests, and for priests to get married. I had a friend who was at one of the top seminaries in Italy. Homosexuality was rampant.

I'd rather deal with a priest who has marital problems than one who is a sick hypocritical queer or child molester.

I'm really sorry if I've offended, but this topic sets me off.