Catholic Scandals: A Crisis for Celibacy?

Touchstone Magazine ^ | March/April, 2002 | Leon J. Podles, Ph. D.

[workerbee]

Thanks - great reading.

(I can only imagine the discussions I've missed in the last couple of weeks!)

[DaveTesla]

1 Corinthians 7.32
32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the
Lord; 33 but the married man is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests
are divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin are anxious about the affairs of the Lord, so that they may be
holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please her husband.
35 I say this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and
unhindered devotion to the Lord.

May God save the rock.

[Askel5]

I was sick in bed all weekend so haven't gotten the book to Romulus. I should probably just mail it.

[joathome]

The overwhelming support for celibacy and continence seems to have been the desire to emulate Jesus and his apostles. Some of the apostles had wives. Peter had a wife, for starters. The early church leaders (elders, bishops) had wives.

Jesus has a unique ministry that precluded a wife. He never asked that of his apostles, however.

[joathome]

The rock is not your local parish priest. It is better to marry than burn. An elder must be the husband of one wife.....and so on. Cases can be made for both......which means that the early church did not FORCE men to remain celibate in order to enter the ministry.

[DaveTesla]

The rock is not your local parish priest.
No It is the church.
Which by the way is being infiltrated by homosexuals and pagens to bring it to it's demise. All part of a plan.

[DaveTesla]

The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; but the married man is anxious
about the affairs of the world, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided.

[Cap'n Crunch]

Still reminds me of Cardinal O'Connor's tape he made about the Antichrist. He talked about the infiltration of religious orders by homosexuals. He named the orders. He said the only way he could get a young man into some of these orders is if they appeared to be feminen. This tape was from the early 80's. It's around here somewhere, I wish I could find it, be interesting to watch again.

[joathome]

Not the only verse! Don't do what you accuse protestants of--building a case around one or two verses. There were requirements for leaders in the church, and part of that requirement was to be the husband of one wife. Peter had a wife. For hundreds of years, church leaders had a wife.

Valid arguments can be made that "some" of the clergy might be better off single--missionaries, for example, but it is only a church discipline. It's not dogma, and it's not biblical to say leaders MUST be single.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Amidst the madness, there is also good news developing...

Campion College:http://www.ignatius.com

[sinkspur]

The sorry mess will eventually be understood as symptomatic not of the priesthood but of "we the people" if not the West.

It ain't just the West. Latin America is as bad, or worse; a large percentage of the clergy live in open concubinage.

[Ronin]

Bump for later study.

[John W]

Linda Chavez tonight on O'Reilly,in a debate about the homosexual aspects of this scandal,made the first on-air mention I've heard of the upcoming book Good-Bye!Good Men and briefly mentioned its basic theory.

[AnnaZ]

"Unspun with AnnaZ And Mercuria on RadioFR NOW!

LISTEN LIVE WHILE YOU FREEP!

[SuziQ]

Great article!! Thanks for finding and posting it. Sir SuziQ was lurking a while ago and pointed it out to me. We have been talking about this for several weeks.

Our pastor has been very troubled by this, especailly because several men that he knows have been 'put on leave' in recent weeks. When he has mentioned the abuse from the pulpit, I had felt there was a controlled rage under the surface. At Holy Thursday Mass tonight, he mentioned that tonight was kind of like the birthday of the 'priesthood' and suggested the congregation give him, and the two other priests in the Parish a round of applause on their 'birthday'. Not only did we do that, but we all gave a standing O in support of this fine man and his colleagues who are faithful to their vows. He was dumbfounded, and remarked when we all sat down "I certainly didn't expect that!" We were glad to show our support. During this Holy Season of Redemption, please pray for all priests that they'll be faithful to God.

[Romulus]

symptomatic not of the priesthood but of "we the people" if not the West.

Oh, I agree! The materialist West has marginalised metaphysics. With questions of faith no longer perceived as central to human existence and welfare, men of intellect and energy are inevitably drawn elsewhere. The Church is left with a handful of saints and mystics, for whom we must be grateful, but also with far too many intellectual and moral third-raters (quite apart from the out and out predators).

[Romulus]

This would indicate to me that continence dates back to apostolic times, not celibacy.

Not having read much on the subject (ahem!) I can only have recourse to my intuition, which is that celibacy was honored from apostolic times, but practiced only informally and irregularly at least in the ante-Nicene period. Certainly I suspect it was regarded universally as the ideal. How many of the Fathers were married?

Askel, it's not as though I lack for stuff to read, but I would like to get my hands on that book. But mailing it across town seems needlessly stand-offish, even for you. Besides, I'm holding your issues of Inside the Vatican, remember? For pete's sake, let's just pick a convenient time and effect a swap.

[Askel5]

My convenient times during Holy Week are nil. I'll bring it to Mass on Easter and try to catch you.

[Romulus]

I'll look for you after Mass. Sorry you haven't been well.

[neocon]

Thank you both for bringing this article to my attention. It's excellent. Touchstone, btw, bills itself as a journal of "Mere Christianity", so its outlook is largely Protestant; they are to be especially commended for publishing this essay.

The only point missing that I can think of the eschatological witness of celibacy, which is an important reason for its preservation. And, the fact that through the centuries the vast majority of Catholic religious have been faithful to their vows must truly frost the Left, which can't abide sexual continence. It seems to spend a great deal of its time trying to convince all and sundry that personal sanctity is a hopeless and foolhardy pursuit. Naturally it would, for those who are enslaved by their passions are more easily controlled.

I would say further that the pastoral clergy could do with more monastic discipline rather than less. You just know that these scandalous priests could not have been faithful in saying their Office, for example. It is impossible to maintain an active prayer life and indulge in such heinous sins at the same time.