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To: jobim
The British and the Roman Churches argued over this up to the seventh century. Along with a question of the dating of Ressurection Day and of tonsures. The latter issue is really imaterial, but I somehow think that the other two were resolved incorrectly, to the best of my understanding of scripture.

The scripture most pertinent to this passage seems to be missing:
Matt 19:10-12, ending with "He that is able to receive it, let him receive it."
Then there is Paul, the whole of 1 Cor 7. Here it is pointed out all the freedoms the unmarried have for serving the Lord, but too it is pointed out:
2 But, because of fornications, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
9 But if they have not continency, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.

things to consider in the practical world, as we have a practical, immanent, religion. Transcendency is nice, but neither Jesus nor Paul seem to expect it of that many people.
I am not knocking celibacy, Jesus indicates that some have the gift, or have made the decision or however you wish to look at it. And I would not recommend that anyone renege on their vows that they have made, it is a good and beautiful thing, with many benefits. I suppose that ideally speaking the church is saying that it is a rare gift, and it is a requirement of a rare profession - that of the Roman Catholic priest. If not everyone should take such vows, then not everyone should become a priest.
The problem is that many who take such vows do not seem to have the ability to keep them, and should never have made them in the first place. The question then becomes what to do about it.
More fundemental, however, are questions like: "what (or who) is a priest? what is a vicar? does an immanent Christ require a vicar in the first place, or does the very idea nullify His immanency (being within us)? Are there varying degrees of priesthood, and if so, what are they, how does one delineate them, or are those who are not celibate merely charlatans?" I think the answers to the questions would predetermine the answers to the question of celibacy, and a good many others.




4 posted on 09/11/2003 12:04:46 AM PDT by Apogee (Thankfully, he is also imminent, and will resolve this issue in due time.)
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To: Apogee; sinkspur
The questions you raise are resolved by the Apostolic sweep of Church history.

As Fr. Cochini summarizes by quoting Augustine in his (Fr. Cochini's) definitive book Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy:

what has been kept by the entire Church and was always maintained, without having been established by the councils, is regarded quite rightly as having been transmitted only by the apostolic authority"

Celibacy is an unwritten tradition of Apostolic origin, as Fr. Cochini writes, that was first canonically expressed in the 4th century. The mind of Christ, exhibited through the Church, guides us and brings us sacramental grace through the splendor of a celibate clergy.

I believe the correct response to this is prayerful awe, rather than pointless discussions of what a priest is, or mundane comparisons of Father Couchpotato vs Superman Deacon.
5 posted on 09/11/2003 12:39:03 AM PDT by jobim
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To: Apogee
Paul also wrote:

"But I would have you to be without solicitude. He that is without a wife, is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife: and he is divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be both holy in body and spirit. But she that is married thinketh on the things of the world, how she may please her husband. And this I speak to your profit: not to cast a snare upon you; but for that which is decent, and which may give you power to attend upon the Lord, without impediment." 1 Corinthians 7:32-35.

7 posted on 09/11/2003 8:04:52 AM PDT by A.A. Cunningham
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