Call To Action: Dump Celibacy

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel ^ | 11/8/03 | Tom Heinen

[ninenot]

Optional celibacy backed at Catholic conference

By TOM HEINEN
theinen@journalsentinel.com

Last Updated: Nov. 7, 2003

About 2,800 reform-minded Catholics from around the nation gave a standing ovation Friday to a few of the 169 Milwaukee-area priests who took the rare step of supporting optional celibacy in letters this year to the president of the U.S. bishops conference.Celibacy's History

A short history of celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church:

300: The Council of Elvira, a local synod in Spain, mandates celibacy for clergy under its jurisdiction.
366: A growing body of papal teachings favors celibacy, but the observance of celibacy is not uniform.
1073-1085: Pope Gregory VII declares that celibacy be universally observed as part of an overall reform of the church.
1522: Martin Luther condemns celibacy.
1545-1563: The Council of Trent upholds universal celibacy in direct response to Martin Luther's statements.
1967: Pope Paul VI reiterates the tradition.
1971: The World Synod of Bishops reaffirms celibacy.
1978-2003: Pope John Paul II consistently reaffirms his belief in celibacy. However, in 1980, he authorizes an exception for married Episcopal priests who want to join the Roman Catholic Church.

Source: Father Andrew Nelson, retired rector of St. Francis Seminary.

The reaction came at the annual Call to Action conference, where reformers launched a national letter-writing and education campaign to sustain and intensify the ripples of outspokenness that have spread from here to a number of dioceses across the country.

Dan Daley, co-director of the Chicago-based group, kicked off the 18-month campaign by calling attention to the Milwaukee priests in the Midwest Airlines Center on the opening night of the three-day conference.

At least three of the priests who signed the letter were seated at the front of the ballroom - Father Richard Aiken, pastor of St. Alphonsus Church in Greendale; Father Carl Diederichs, associate pastor of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist; and Father Kenneth Mich, pastor of Good Shepherd Church in Menomonee Falls.

Last weekend, a sample letter in support of optional celibacy was inserted into the bulletins at Aiken's church, one of the archdiocese's largest congregations. It included instructions for mailing the letter or any other comments about the issue to Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

"I think that we just have to open ordained ministry up to everyone, both men and women, married and single," Aiken said in an interview at the convention center. "I think it's time we start looking at it now, probably a little late."

Both Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan and Gregory have spoken out on the issue in response to the Milwaukee priests' letter, saying, among other things, that the celibacy issue had already been discussed at length by bishops in past years and would not be reopened.

But that has not deterred reformers, some of whom hope the Vatican's opposition to optional celibacy might change under the successor to the aging Pope John Paul II.

The new Corpus Christi Campaign for Optional Celibacy is being launched by Call to Action and a Cleveland-based reform group, FutureChurch.

Letters to Gregory in support of optional celibacy were handed out and collected Friday night. Education packets also were handed out that included, among other things, information about how to start discussion groups and spark parish-based campaigns.

There also were petitions for people to sign and send to the U.S. delegates who will participate in an International Synod on the Eucharist that the Vatican is expected to hold in late 2004 or early 2005.

At the heart of the effort are demographic data from the Official Catholic Directory that have been posted on a Web site - www.futurechurch.org - for Catholics to see how the number of priests in their dioceses is dwindling as more of the aging corps of priests reaches retirement age or die.

The campaign is building on the work of three Milwaukee-area women who earlier this year started a grass-roots campaign with a post office box and the name People in Support of Optional Celibacy - Terry Ryan of New Berlin; Roberta Manley of Greenfield; and Nancy Pritchard of Milwaukee.

Ryan wrote a rough draft of a petition and letter supporting the Milwaukee priests and shared it with David Gawlik, editor of Corpus Reports, a newsletter for married priests. Gawlik surprised Ryan by posting the letter on the Corpus Web site without further consultation with her, and the effort was quickly endorsed by Call to Action Wisconsin as the electronics documents began circulating around the country and abroad.

As of Friday, 4,485 petition letters had been returned to the post office box. Sister Christine Schenk, executive director of FutureChurch, planned to combine them with the petitions that were signed at the convention Friday and submit more than 6,000 petitions to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops when it meets next week in Washington, D.C.

The celibacy issue is not new for groups such as Call to Action, which called for optional celibacy when it was founded in the 1970s. But the National Federation of Priest Councils - and groups of priests in Chicago, New York, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and some other dioceses - are joining in open appeals for the hierarchy to consider optional celibacy as one solution for the worsening priest shortage and its impact on the availability of the Eucharist.

[Kenny Bunk]

We need to slow the heck down and give our predecesors the benefit of the doubt that perhaps they were not complete idiots for a change.

Actually, Snuff, this is my position. Ya gotta know when to do do nuthin'. The RCs have one major flaw, IMHO, and that is they think they are the only Catholics on the planet. Of course, they're not. If some churches want to keep celibacy of the clergy as a church rule, they certainly are entitled to do so.

If those born to Roman Catholicism wish to join one of the Eastern Churches, the Copts, The Syriacs,the Abyssinians, The Armenians, or whatever, what exactly is to stop them? It would in no way undermine their allegiance to the Bishop of Rome.

[RobbyS]

As to his "hidden" life, while there are many possibilities,there is not even a hint in the Bible that Jesus had a wife and it certainly is not part of the tradition of the Church. If you want to speculate, then consider his relationship to John the Baptist. The supposition is that he worked as a carpenter right up to the time he was baptised is probably true, but we really don't know that. Could he not have worked with John until the day that John suddenly realized who Jesus was? And given the similarity of his teachings with the "liberal" school of the Pharisees, can we entirely rule out that he studied in the Temple. We really don't know that Jesus was a country rube.
"John" shows him spending a lot of time in Jerusalem even during his activie ministry, and as having friends in the area. The early stories of the Church make Mary and Joseph
Judeans. Lots of speculations, but a wife is not a necessary part of the story even though Jesus was on the verge of middle-age when he began his ministy.

[LisaMalia]

I've been trying to "dump celibacy" for two years now...:)

[Kenny Bunk]

Tony, try and keep up with the Pope, willya?

The Pope says that one can be saved by Grace alone, or by Grace and Deeds, which is the recommended Roman way. This is a Major Concession to the Lutherans, in preparation for joining forces again.

Yo, just 'cause it's religion, doesn't mean you can forget the international marketing. Remember St. Paul's marketing breakthrough? I.E., one didn't have to be a Jew to become a Christian. It took Christianity from an obscure middle Eastern sect, and put it on the world map.

[RobbyS]

If you look at Paul's letters through Protetant eyes, you are not looking at them the way that the Church Fathers did. As to intellectual assent, you ought to admit that Luther's theory of grace is accepted dogmatically by Protestants just as the contrary teaching of the Catholic Church is accepted by Catholics.

[ShadowDancer]

No, you don't understand the difference between living and reading.

[wheathead]

well said!!!
isn't it funny how the literallist's only take things literally when it suits their "flavor of the week" religion???

hahhaha

[DallasMike]

Well--the REAL poison-in-the-well returns.
 

You can't argue that the facts so the best you can do is call names.

Can't say it's nice to read your posts again--nor your cute little ingratiating lie about "respecting the Catholic Church."
 

I have given time and money to the Catholic church and to ministries that they support, especially pro-life ministries.

Please don't call me a liar.

[cornelis]

it is imperative to do things like Mass attendance, Lenten fasts/abstinence, confessions to a priest, intellectual assent to dogmas, etc. in order to belong to the fellowship

You know the rules: speak the tongue or else. And if you don't go to the retreat--well, we all know. Protocol exists in all structures except when you declare yourself your own pope.

[DallasMike]

Lisen, Ace; most pedophiles are married men.

1. Could it perhaps be because most men are married?

2. Do you consider this fact an argument for banning marriage altogether?

[DallasMike]

You and I read Paul differently. The Catholic Church has very condemned gnostic teaching.

This is really not one of those things that is open to much interpretation! Paul clearly says in several places that clergy may marry. He further says that it is a heresy to forbid marriage.

Why prohibit something that God clearly permits?

I don't deny that the church throughout history has condemned gnostic teachings, but some tenets have slipped through anyway. The notion of priestly celibacy can undeniably be laid squarely at the feet of gnosticism.

Celibacy is a practical oblgation. imposed on priests in the Latin rite. It has been retained because it has worked very well.

I would argue that it is not working very well at all. According to this article in the Kansas City Star, Catholic priests have AIDs at a rate of 4 times that of the general public. I would hardly tout that as a success story.

The problems encountered by the Protestant ministry/Orthodox priesthood do not take away from the benefits of a married clergy. My personal objection to the movement for a married clergy is that it is being driven by ideologues who make it part of a radical makeover of the Church.

I object as well to ideologues who would use the issue of priests marrying as a wedge to slip non-biblical teachings in the door. However, the same could have been said some 400 years ago about selling indulgences -- sure, selling indulgences is wrong but if we stop doing that then who knows what will happen?

Refusing to get rid of an unscriptural practice in case something worse might come in is like saying that it's better to keep on doing crack cocaine to keep from doing LSD.

[DallasMike]

If you look at Paul's letters through Protetant eyes, you are not looking at them the way that the Church Fathers did.

Read the writings of the Church Fathers -- you might be surprised at how often they strongly disagree with the current teachings of the Roman Catholic church.

[cornelis]

I am sure St. Paul recommended it.

[cornelis]

with the current teachings of the Roman Catholic church.

Or the evangelical church, right?

[RobbyS]

Beside the point. They did not read Paul the way that Luther did, which is to say somewhat in isolation from the rest of Scripture. As "Peter" points out even the early Christians sometimes read into Paul doctrines not consistent with the teachings of the Church.

[RobbyS]

would argue that it is not working very well at all. According to this article in the Kansas City Star, Catholic priests have AIDs at a rate of 4 times that of the general public. I would hardly tout that as a success story. And I would argue that is like taking a small slice of history and representing it as the whole. Like much of society the Church has been infiltrated by homosexuals, and as an ironic evidence that this is a new phenomenon, the Protestant charge against celibacy until recently was the seduction of WOMEN by horny priests in the confessional. My personal information suggests that even that never rose to the level of the amount of seduction in the ordinary business office.

[sinkspur]

I am sure St. Paul recommended it.

Paul did recommend celibacy; so did Jesus.

Neither of them, however, demanded that their disciples be celibate. The Church has interpreted it that way, yet it has made exceptions (for the Anglican dispensation) and clearly honors the married tradition of the Eastern Rite.

All of the theological and logistical arguments (a celibate priest has more time for his flock) have melted away with the introduction of the permanent diaconate twenty years ago, and the overwhelming response by married men to the call of the Church to serve in a formal ministerial capacity. Over 15,000 men have been ordained to the permanent diaconate; that's an average of 750 per year, versus less than 300 per year for the priesthood during that time.

In many cases, these men serve full time, giving up lucrative careers. Now that my boys are grown, I'm thinking of doing that myself.

In any case, the argument in favor of celibacy seems to boil down to "well, it's a 1000 year old tradition" and because the Pope says so.

[invoman]

Paul did recommend celibacy; so did Jesus.

Not for an office in the Church.

[sinkspur]

Not for an office in the Church.

Well, there were no "offices", and there was barely a "Church." But, it was clear that Paul desired that "you remain as I am" (i.e., celibate and unencumbered). And Jesus said that he would bless those who gave up father, mother, brother, and all things for the sake of the Kingdom. But, when the apostles questioned him about this "hard teaching," he said "Let him accept it who can."

Our Church is a Eucharistic Church, with the Body and Blood of Christ at the center of our worship. It is not a clerical Church, with the focus on priests and bishops.

If we do not have enough men to celebrate the Eucharist, it is incumbent on the Church leadership to figure out a way to provide more men for that purpose.

As it stands now, the Church leadership is content to designate "Lay Leaders" for "Communion Services" in the absence of an ordained priest to celebrate the Eucharist. The danger here, in my view, is that the faithful will come to accept a lack of priests as the status quo, and these Communion Services as sufficient.

Celibacy is merely a discipline; there is no theological, logistical, or practical reason to exclude married men from the priesthood.