Posted on 04/17/2005 1:53:52 PM PDT by madprof98
Well ... now that you have made a blanket statement, please support your argument.
The way I look at it is that the parish and parish grounds were built with the dollars of the parishioners and so one person shouldn't own the property or be able to pass it down to his son... plus then you get into the problem of poor/wealthy parishes, nice/not nice areas. Also, the priesthood is a calling and not something that you do because it is the family business.
Celibacy was encouraged from the very beginning - based on St. Paul's words of common sense (hard to devote your life to God, go where He calls you and also keep a happy family) plus of course on the perfect example of Jesus Himself (giving up all for the sake of the Kingdom).
So, although it was encouraged from the beginning (look at the earliest recorded councils) it was hard to enforce over such a vast expanse, especially in a fledgling Church where there may not be much episcopal oversight - you can see this would have been especially true in the eastern regions of Europe.
It's an interesting and convoluted (lots of bad history out there) but if you look at original source documents that detail the development of celibacy and try to understand what the Church was teaching, it does make sense when viewing the priesthood from a Catholic perspective. One can certainly argue whether it is a benefit or a detriment to the vocation itself.
Because their goal is not to change the Church but to destroy it. And it is easier to destroy from within. God have mercy on their misguided souls.
Or one other thought; maybe it's because some parishes, especially in the US or at least some where I've attended services, are out of step with the historic Roman Catholic Church?
LOL! I live in the archdiocese of Boston and my own parish priest once told me that "we [Catholic Church in the USA] should pull away from Rome because they don't understand us [Americans]." We have more than a few parish priests who teach that there is no hell (and they have huge parishes). More than a few publicly lobbied the senate to have gay marriage made into law.
Incorrect. Suggest you begin your study of the history of the discipline of celibacy
“And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. ”
NBSC Nightly "News" leading with the same.
I'm kind of a dolt and I can't figure out whether you are saying that it is a good thing or a bad thing that the priesthood is not a hereditary vocation?
Don't be so sure - look at the 'orthodox' dioceses and see how many vocations they have - a lot. Also, the orders like the FSSP have plenty of vocations as well - looking to enlarge their seminary as a matter of fact. Problem is, a lot of dioceses don't want those priests because they are too traditional - some bishops would rather go without priests than have traditional priests head up parishes.
A nobody like me knows two men who left the local seminary in the 1980s due to what they said was the overwhelmingly gay atmosphere. They just couldn't take it.
You might want to read "Good bye Good Men" by Michael Rose... details a lot of seminaries where good men were nearly hounded out of the seminary due to their perceived inflexibility on matters of the Magisterium (female ordination is a biggie for the libs).
And check this out:
Orthodox Dioceses Produce Five Times the Vocations as Progressive Ones
LOL! Gracias, love that thing!
Which is one of the reasons why the formation process is as long as it is and arguably should be longer. Some people never mature, re William Jefferson Blythe Clinton.
It also may be one of the primary reasons there’s a shortage of Priests.
A specious argument at best which doesn't explain the shortage of ministers in protestant denominations: http://www.detnews.com/2001/religion/0103/16/a01-198530.htm; who, incidentally, aren't bound by the discipline, or the shortage of Rabbis or the shortage of Priests in the Greek Orthodox Church for that matter.
Well, that's good, on that we can agree! I don't think I'd want a parish priest who was a priest just because his dad was a priest and they didn't want the family inheritance to be lost.
Some of them are Freepers.
Once again, you are incorrect. You lack even a rudimentary comprehension of the history of the discipline. State in your own words what the two Canons from the Council of Elvira I referred you to state. Then quote what was written by the Council of Carthage in 390 AD regarding the subject.
In other words, give up worldly concerns and possessions and follow Him. I still don’t see where it calls for Priests to be celibate.
If Peter and the Apostles hadn't given up everything, including wives if they were married, why did Christ mention them. Nice try in quoting Matthew 19:27-30 out of context and neglecting to mention Matthew 19:12.
Know anything about the Levitical Priesthood of Melchisedech and what Scripture has to say about it? Probably not.
Protestant problem
Many Protestant churches are coping with a dearth of ordained leaders:
* Long thought of as a problem of the Roman Catholic Church, some studies have suggested that the dilemma might even be bigger in Protestant churches.
* A 1998 National Congregations study found that 18 percent of Protestants attended a church without full-time staff, compared with 6 percent of Catholics.
* To cope, lay people are being trained to perform pastoral duties and ministers are serving more than one church.
I know daily Mass-goers who believe abortion should be legal and women should be ordained priests.
You don't run the Mafia, opps I mean the Catolic Church by opinion polls.
The simple response is that she is a delusional Catholic.
I don't know what else you would call it--the word "sect" comes to mind.
If you think celebacy was a Roman doctrine from the beginning, why do you think it took until 1079 to announce it?
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