“...they (priests) lived with their wives and raised families. In practice, ordination (to the priesthood) was not an impediment to marriage, therefore some priests did marry even after ordination. The tenth century is claimed to be the high point of clerical marriage in the Latin communion (Catholic Church). Most rural priests were married and many urban clergy and bishops had wives and children.” Source: Wikipedia.com-—look up clerical celibacy. Further, you can do as I did: Go to your local library and sign out books on this topic.
Even more annoying is the fact that many theologians-—most notably St. Jerome and St. Damian even attempted to rewrite the Bible to further enforce their prudish devotion to celibacy. The Bible clearly states that Jesus had brothers and sisters, which is what you would expect considering that Mary and Joseph were a happily married couple. But St. Jerome twists the meaning of the Bible when he came up with the ridiculous idea that Bible “meant” to say they were his cousins. Truly outrageous to do that.
Then, later in 19th Century, you had Pope Pius IX develop this yarn that Mary herself was born of an immaculate conception, which of course there is no mention of such an occurrence in the Bible. This same pope also developed the concept of “Papal Infallibility” -—perhaps so no one would question some of his theories and pronouncements.
I am a loyal and faithful Catholic and love my Church and practice my faith. But NO church has the right to rewrite history or rewrite the Bible. The Lord commands us to be fruitful and multiply. He created Eve because He did not want Adam to be alone. We are supposed to CELEBRATE and create life, not to be celibate. Celibacy may be part of the Church’s plan-—it was introduced in the Middle Ages to fight corruption and nepotism-—but it is certainly NOT God’s plan. Let’s please stick to what is in the Bible and not make things up.
Your opinion? If not, please source it.
By all means. Anyone who reads the Bible knows that mocking celibacy ("prudish devotion to celibacy") is mocking the example of Our Lord.
But NO church has the right to rewrite history or rewrite the Bible.
How is it possible to accuse the Church of rewriting history or the Bible and ridicule celibacy (which ALL unmarried Catholics are called to practice) yet remain a "loyal and faithful Catholic"?