Cardinal Pell: Ending Celibacy Rule Would Be a Blunder

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 12, 2005 (Zenit.org).- It would be a "serious error" for the Latin-rite Catholic Church to lose the tradition of priestly celibacy, Cardinal George Pell warned the Synod of Bishops.

The archbishop of Sydney, Australia, said that in his country, as well as in New Zealand, there is a decline in the number of priestly vocations, and confusion is evident in the proliferation of Communion services.

"My recommendations to the synod on how to deal with these 'shadows' presuppose the maintenance in the Latin Church of the ancient tradition and life-giving discipline of mandatory celibacy for the diocesan clergy as well as the religious orders," affirmed the cardinal.

"Losing this tradition now would be a serious error, which would provoke confusion in the mission areas and would not strengthen spiritual vitality in the First World," he stressed.

"It would be a departure from the practice of the Lord himself, bring significant practical disadvantages to the work of the Church, and weaken the sign value of the priesthood," the Australian cardinal continued. "It would weaken, too, the witness to loving sacrifice, and to the reality of the Last Things, and the rewards of heaven.

"We should remember the situation of the Church 500 years ago, just before the Reformation, a small weak community separated from the East. The enormous expansion since then and the purification of Church leadership, imperfect but substantial, were achieved primarily under grace, through the lives of celibate sisters, brothers and priests."

"The recent sexual scandals have not invalidated these gains," he continued.

Unnecessary substitutions

Regarding the proliferation of extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, the cardinal asked the synod "to draw up a further list of suggestions and criteria to regulate the celebration of Communion services, especially on Sundays."

"'Liturgies awaiting a priest' is a better title than 'priestless liturgies,'" he said. "There is no such thing as 'lay-led liturgy,' because lay people can only lead devotional prayers and para-liturgies."

Cardinal Pell, 64, applauded the suggestion of Coadjutor Bishop Pierre-Antoine Paulo, of Port-de-Paix, Haiti, who suggested to the synod that the title "special ministers of holy Communion" be used instead of "ministers of the Eucharist."

"Communion services or Liturgies of the Word should not be substituted for Mass, when priests are available," Cardinal Pell said.

"Such unnecessary substitutions are often not motivated by a hunger for the Bread of Life, but by ignorance and confusion or even by hostility to the ministerial priesthood and the sacraments," he contended.

"To what extent are regular celebrations of Communion services, Sunday after Sunday, a genuine development or distortion, a Protestantization, which risks confusing even regular churchgoers?" the cardinal asked.

Isidro Catela, a synod spokesman, explained that none of the Latin-rite bishops who have addressed the synod have proposed changes in the discipline of clerical celibacy.

Catela clarified that the only ones who have spoken about the ordination of married priests as a richness have been bishops and patriarchs of the Eastern Churches united to Rome, where there are married priests. In these Churches, however, the bishops must be celibate.

"It's been that way from the beginning. St. Paul's letter to Timothy and his letter to Titus are witness to the apostolic tradition of ordaining married men to Holy Orders."

There's some debate on that. From my perspective, it doesn't really matter. The organic tradition of the eastern churches is a married preisthood, the organic tradition of the west is a celibate one.

I wonder how many men cannot answer the call as well, but I think that in the future, that will be less of a factor. First, I think the eastern churches will grow relative to the western church and there will be a need for more eastern Catholic priests. I think the days of eastern Catholic churches in the U.S. refraining from ordaining married men are numbered. The one exception I see is the Maronites.

The second factor I see coming into play is the ability to change rites. It used to be just about impossible to formally change rites (churches), but it's easier now. It of course depends on the specific churches involved, but changing rites is no longer the onerous burden it once was.

That's a long way of saying that married priests will be a reality in the U.S. It might not be in the western church, but there will be an avenue for those married men who are qualified, who are patient, and who really want to be priests.

There are 22 Churches sui juris in six separate rites, five Eastern and one Western, that in union comprise the Catholic Church. The discipline in the West is for celibacy of all of those, with a relatively few dispensations granted under Pope John Paul IIs Pastoral Provision, ordained to the Priesthood. The discipline in the Eastern Rites are that married men may be ordained to the Priesthood but once ordained single Priests may not then get married. Bishops in the Eastern Rites are chosen exclusively from amongst celibates. Someone as learned as you claim to be on the topic should know all of this but you and I and everyone else reading this realizes that you aren't as learned as you want people to think you are.

You are absolutely correct!

As an RC practicing my faith in an Eastern (Maronite) Catholic Church, I am very impressed with their view of celibacy. The Orthodox in the forum oftentimes demean the Maronites as being too "latinized". However, the Maronites hitched their wagon to the pope many centuries ago and have enjoyed a 'symbiotic' relationship with Holy Mother Church. In return for their adhesion to the truths of the Catholic Church, they were given vestments, sacramentals (statues, stations of the cross, etc.), sacred vessels and 2 seminaries - one in Rome, the other in France. The Maronites strongly adhere to the rule of celibacy but, as the Patriarch pointed out last Friday, allow married men to become priests. What he did not explain, however, is the process entailed.

My Lebanese born, celibate Maronite priest did explain this to a group of us earlier this year. It is a painstaking process. Once a married man applies to become a priest, he and his family are put to a scrupulous examination of faith. The Maronite view is that a married man is responsible to his family 'first', to his parish second. If the applicant and family pass scrutiny, he is allowed into seminary and ordained a deacon. After a certain number of years, should the deacon decide to become a priest, he and the family are once again scrutinized. There must be a solid and strong foundation of faith and support for this man in order to serve his church and family. Father also explained that in the East, marriage vows are still taken quite seriously vs the West, where more than 50% of marriages end in divorce. That is totally unacceptable to the Maronites and the Church, hence the scrutiny. Once the applicant and family pass muster, he is ordained a priest. The next obstacle is assigning him to a parish. Times are tough in the Middle East and monies must go a long way. It is not unusual for parishioners to scrutinize the wife and children of their married pastor. Should they show up wearing fancy clothes, the weekly donations drop commmensurate with the quality of their garb. Sad to say but, it makes perfect sense.

Father went on to suggest that should the Latin Rite Church decide to open the doors to married men, it would take approximaely 100 years to prepare for this change, given the view towards marriage in the West. Just some food for thought.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.