Marriage
The imposition of celibacy on the Catholic clergy |
The
Roman Catholic Church imposes celibacy on its priests and deacons. Here is
what the Code of Canon Law affirms: ‘An unmarried candidate for the permanent
diaconate and a candidate for the presbyterate are not to be admitted to the
order of diaconate unless they have assumed the obligation of celibacy in the
prescribed rite publicly before God and the Church or have made perpetual
vows in a religious institute.’ (Can. 1037), ‘Clerics are obliged to observe
perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the kingdom of heaven and
therefore are bound to celibacy which is a special gift of God by which
sacred ministers can adhere more easily to Christ with an undivided heart and
are able to dedicate themselves more freely to the service of God and
humanity.’ ( |
The
following biblical passages are cited to support the imposition of celibacy
on the clergy: Jeremiah 16:1-2; Luke 23:28-29; and 1 Corinthians 7:32-33 |
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A
brief history of celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church |
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In
the early Church celibacy was not imposed on bishops or deacons; rather one
of the necessary qualifications both for the position of a bishop and the
position of a deacon was that the candidate had to be the husband of one wife
and had to rule his own house well. However, inasmuch as with the passing of
time within the Church many people accepted the doctrine according to which
the Lord’s Supper was the repetition of the sacrifice of Christ, and thus the
belief that when the presbyters celebrated the Lord’s Supper they offered to
God the immolated victim (the body of Christ) for their own sins and for the
sins of the people, the Church began to teach that the married presbyters had
to abstain from having sexual intercourse with their wives so that they might
be pure at the Lord’s Supper. This teaching was supported with the example of
the Levitical priests under the Old Testament, who were not allowed to go
near the holy things while they had uncleanness upon them, as it is written:
“Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that
goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the
LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence:
I am the LORD. …. The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until
even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash
his flesh with water. And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall
afterward eat of the holy things; because it is his food.” (Leviticus 22:3,
6-7). It is evident that when the Lord’s Supper began to be celebrated every
day, the Church ended by forbidding the presbyters who were married to have
sexual intercourse with their wives. This is evident from two canons (can. 18
and can. 33) of the Council of Elvira which took place in |
The
first written law forbidding the clergy to marry was finally handed down at
the first Lateran Council (1123), which stated: ‘We absolutely forbid
priests, deacons, subdeacons, and monks to have concubines or to contract
marriage. We decree in accordance with the definitions of the sacred canons,
that marriages already contracted by such persons must be dissolved, and that
the persons be condemned to do penance’ (Canon 21).
The Second Lateran Council in 1139 confirmed this law. And about four
centuries later the Council of Trent stated as follows: “If any one saith,
that clerics constituted in sacred orders, or Regulars, who have solemnly
professed chastity, are able to contract marriage, and that being contracted
it is valid, notwithstanding the ecclesiastical law, or vow; and that the
contrary is no thing else than to condemn marriage; and, that all who do not
feel that they have the gift of chastity, even though they have made a vow
thereof, may contract marriage; let him be anathema: seeing that God refuses
not that gift to those who ask for it rightly, neither does He suffer us to
be tempted above that which we are able” (Council of Trent, Session 24, Canon
IX) |
The
imposition of celibacy on the clergy was confirmed by pope Paul VI through
the encyclical Sacerdotalis coelibatus
(June 1967), and by the late John Paul II on many occasions. |
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Confutation |
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Celibacy
is a gift of God, thus it cannot be imposed |
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Paul
said to Timothy: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times
some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils [demons]; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their
conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry…..” (1
Timothy 4:1-3). |
Therefore
the doctrine which forbids the bishops, the priests and the deacons, to marry
is a doctrine of demons. Why? Because celibacy is a gift of God and not
something which some men are allowed to impose on other men, for Jesus said:
“Not everyone can accept this teaching”, - that is, the teaching which says
that it is better not to marry – “but only those to whom it has been given”
(Matthew 19:11 – NIV), and Paul said: “For I wish that all men were even as I
myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and
another in that” (1 Corinthians 7:7 – NKJV). |
What
is the result of the imposition of celibacy on the roman catholic priests? This, that the priests give themselves over to uncleanness
and fornication, offending thus people. On the other hand, Paul said very
clearly why a man must get married: “Because of sexual immorality, let each
man have his own wife …..” (1 Corinthians 7:2 – NKJV). No wonder then that
those on whom celibacy is imposed give themselves to uncleanness and
fornication. We have come to this conclusion, that
since Paul says to the unmarried: “If they cannot exercise self-control, let
them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion” (1
Corinthians 7:9 – NKJV), for the Roman Catholic Church it is better to burn
than to marry! (Bear in mind that a Roman Catholic priest who commits
fornication is not considered a good priest, yet he can continue to fulfil
his office within the roman catholic church; however should he marry he can
no longer be a priest). As you can see, the roman catholic church contradicts
the truth! |
The
teaching of the Roman Catholic Church on celibacy is contradictory, for on
the one hand the Catholic Church affirms that celibacy is a gift of God (they
call it the gift of chastity), but on the other hand it affirms that the
Church requires the gift of chastity from all those who want to become
priests and have entered the priesthood. But if celibacy is a gift why do
they impose it? Why don’t they consider it optional? To impose a gift of God
on someone, as the roman curia does with its sophisms, is an absurdity; it is
like saying to someone who has not the gift of working miracles that he must
work miracles!! It is like saying that a believer who does not have the gift
of prophecy must prophesy for this is a gift of God! However Paul said to the
Romans: “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to
us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in
proportion to our faith ….” (Romans 12:6 – NKJV), therefore if we don’t have
the gift of prophecy we can’t prophesy! Likewise, if one has the gift of
celibacy let him not marry, but if he does not have this gift let him marry lest
he commit fornication. |
Let
me say another thing concerning the gift of celibacy. This gift is not given
to some people because they have asked God for it, but apart from their will
because God has determined that they must not marry. However, let us suppose
that one asks God for the gift of celibacy, who can affirm that God will
surely give him this gift? The Scripture says that “this is the confidence
that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears
us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have
the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John |
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In
the |
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Now
let us examine in the light of the Scriptures what the roman catholic church
affirms in order to support the imposition of celibacy on the clergy. The
catholic church affirms that the priests need to be unmarried or rather they
must be unmarried in order to serve God faithfully and saintly. |
First
of all I want to say that the roman catholic priests don’t serve God for they
teach heresies and are idolaters and superstitious. Secondly, I want to say
that the Scripture teaches that not only unmarried people but also married
people can serve God in the Church in a manner worthy of the Gospel. If
married people were not able to serve God faithfully and saintly in the
Church, Paul would not have said to Timothy that both bishops and deacons
must be the husbands of one wife and must rule their own houses well (cf. 1
Timothy 3:2,4,12 - so they must be married). But
there is another thing to be said: Paul said to Titus that a bishop (or an
elder) must be not only the husband of one wife but also just, holy and
self-controlled (cf. Titus 1:6,8); that means that
marriage does not keep a bishop from being just, holy and self-controlled.
Undoubtedly, if a bishop were to be unmarried in order to be just, holy and
self-controlled, Paul would not have said those things to Titus. To confirm
what I have just said I remember you that when Paul mentions the
qualifications of a bishop and of a deacon he says: “But let these also [the candidates
for the diaconate] first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found
blameless” (1 Timothy 3:10 – NKJV), which means that the (married) candidates
for the presbyterate and for the diaconate, after they have been tested for a
certain period of time, can be found blameless, even though they are married
and have children. What Paul says makes it clear that marriage does not
distract a believer to the point that he can’t live a just, holy and
self-controlled life and consequently he can’t become a bishop or a deacon in
the Church of God, for as we have seen if the (married) candidates are found
blameless after they have been tested they can serve as bishops and as
deacons in the Church of the living God. Furthermore the apostles also
(except Paul and Barnabas) were married, for Paul says to the Corinthians:
“Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other
apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?” (1 Corinthians 9:5 – NKJV)
That Peter was married is confirmed by Matthew when he says: “Now when Jesus
had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a
fever. So He touched her hand, and the fever left her.” (Matthew 8:14-15 –
NKJV). Yet the apostles were holy men who perfected holiness in the fear of
God and gave no offense in anything! |
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Many
holy men of God under the Old Testament were married |
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Now
I want to speak of some people who lived under the Old Testament in order to
confirm that one can be a married person and at the same time he can be a
faithful and holy servant of God. |
Noah,
whom Peter calls “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5), was “a just
man, perfect in his generations” (Genesis 6:9 – NKJV); yet he was married and
had some children. |
Moses,
who was a prophet and of whom the Scripture says that he “was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those
things which would be spoken afterward” (Hebrews 3:5 – NKJV), was married and
had some children. |
Aaron,
the high priest, was married, as it is written: “Aaron took to himself
Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Nahson, as wife; and she bore him
Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar” (Exodus 6:23 – NKJV). |
The
prophet Isaiah was married, for it is written: “Then I went to the
prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son” (Isaiah 8:3 – NKJV). |
The
prophet Hosea also was married, for it is written: “When the Lord began to
speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea: ‘Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry
and children of harlotry ….” (Hosea 1:2 – NKJV). |
The
prophet Ezekiel was married, as it is written: “So I spoke to the people in
the morning, and at evening my wife died ….” (Ezekiel 24:18 – NKJV). |
Let
me say also this: the Curia affirms that the roman catholic priests are in a
certain sense like the Levitical priests under the Old Testament, but they
wilfully forget that the Levitical priests also, who offered sacrifices for
the people, were married and were allowed to marry. Concerning the levitical
priests, I remember you that Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, was a
priest of the division of Abijah, and his wife Elizabeth was of the daughters
of Aaron, and “they were both righteous before God, walking in all the
commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (Luke 1:6 – NKJV). As you
can see, he was a priest under the Old Testament, he was married, yet he
walked in all the commandments of God blameless. |
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Some
biblical passages cited by the Curia to support the imposition of celibacy
explained |
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Now
let me explain to you some biblical passages quoted by the Curia to support
the imposition of celibacy. |
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God said to Jeremiah: “Thou shalt not take thee a wife,
neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.” (Jeremiah 16:2). |
First
of all it must be said that it was God who forbade Jeremiah to marry, and not
the high priest of the temple or someone else; and secondly it must be said
that God gave him that specific commandment for the following reason: “For
thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are
born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and
concerning their fathers that begat them in this land; They shall die of
grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried;
but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be
consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the
fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.” (Jeremiah 16:3-4).
Therefore God commanded Jeremiah not to marry nor to
have children for He wanted to spare him many afflictions. |
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Jesus said: “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for
yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the
wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.” (Luke 23:28-29). |
By
those words Jesus did not forbid the virgins to marry nor did He call blessed those women who were barren, for according
to the law the woman was free to marry and any woman who was barren was not
blessed. Jesus simply meant that when |
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Paul said to the Corinthians: “He who is unmarried cares for the things of
the Lord – how he may please the Lord. But he who is married cares about the
things of the world – how he may please his wife” (1 Corinthians |
By
these words Paul simply meant that he who is unmarried is without all those
cares which on the contrary any married person has, and thus he can dedicate
more time to the things of the Lord, not having a wife and children to take
care of. That’s why he counselled the unmarried to remain as they were: for
he wanted believers to be without care. Now let me explain to you what it
means to be without care. For instance, a preacher who is unmarried when he
takes a journey because of the Gospel is more free than a preacher who has
got a wife and some children; and when he is persecuted he must not worry
about his wife and his children; however this difference does not make an
unmarried man holier or more happy than a married man. Paul counselled the
unmarried to remain unmarried for this reason also: he wanted to spare them
trouble in the flesh, for he said: “Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a
wife. But even if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries,
she has not sinned. Nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh, but I
would spare you” (1 Corinthians |
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The
true reasons why celibacy is imposed on the clergy |
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Last
of all, it must be said that the celibacy of the clergy has always been a
subject for discussion within the roman catholic church, for not all think
that it should be imposed. There are many prelates who would like the pope to
make celibacy optional. However till now the position of the pope on celibacy
has not changed, even though the imposition of celibacy has caused all kinds
of scandals within the roman church. So what do many priests do, who are
forced to live unmarried against their will? They ask for the dispensation in
order to marry, choosing rather to marry and thus to leave the catholic
priesthood than to continue to give themselves over to fornication and uncleanness.
Between 1963 and 1969, during the papacy of Paul VI, more than eight thousand
priests asked for dispensation from their vows, while about three thousand
priests left the priesthood without waiting for the dispensation. Also during
the papacy of John Paul II many priests have left the priesthood in order to
marry. In the past 25 years, 110,000 priests throughout the world left the
priesthood to marry. |
Now
why does the Curia continue to impose celibacy, in spite of all the offences
caused by the priests (many of them have a concubine) and in spite of the
fact that every year many priests ask for dispensation from their vows and
many others leave the priesthood without asking for dispensation from their
priestly vows? Is not this attitude of the Curia harmful to the Roman
Catholic Church? Of course it is, but you should not forget that through the
imposition of celibacy the Roman Catholic Church defends its economic and
financial interests. Have you ever wondered why the roman catholic church
tolerates a priest who lives with a concubine allowing him to continue to be
a priest, but it does not allow a priest who marries to continue to be a
priest? The reason is that the concubine of a priest cannot inherit what
belongs to the priest, while his wife and his children can. Therefore the
roman catholic church forbids the priests to marry in order to keep the
priests from leaving what they have to their wives or their children. When
one looks at the history of celibacy in the Catholic Church, it soon becomes
apparent that this state of life became mandatory due to financial
considerations, not because priests were supposed to emulate Christ by
remaining single. In other words, it was the concern of the loss of Church
lands to heirs of priests, and not the desire that the priests should be
consecrated wholly to their office, which led to the imposition of the
celibacy rule. There is another reason why the Curia imposes celibacy on the
clergy, which is this: the papacy, being a
absolutist system, needs obedient subjects wholly submissive to their
superiors, and celibacy assures that unconditioned obedience the pope
requires from the priests. In other words, an unmarried priest can be
controlled more easily than a married priest; an unmarried priest is more
loyal to the pope than a married priest. Therefore, the fact that the Curia
says that priests need to be unmarried so that they might live a holier life
is just a pretext, for celibacy is imposed for control reasons. |