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Celibacy |
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BASIC R.C. BELIEF
Celibacy, or remaining in an unmarried state, is a
law
of the church for
her clergy. It was followed by some as early as the 3rd and 4th century,
but until the 12th century priests could contract valid marriages. In 1123,
Pope Calixtus II ordered all priests' marriages broken. This was backed up
by Innocent II when he declared all priests' marriages null and void.
From Lateran Council I, Canon 3, 1123, "We absolutely forbid priests,
deacons
or subdeacons the intimacy of concubines and of wives, and cohabitation with other women, except those with whom for reasons of necessity alone the Nicene Synod permits them to live, that is, a mother, sister, paternal or maternal aunt, or others of this kind concerning whom no suspicion may justly arise." (From Denzinger, The Source of Catholic Dogma.)
From EXPLANATION OF CATHOLIC MORALS, p. 149. "Celibates are not
chaste:
celibacy is not necessarily chastity; by a large majority. . .one who takes
the vow of celibacy does not break it by sinning against the sixth
commandment. He is true to it until he weds. Quoted in CATHOLICISM AGAINST
ITSELF, Lambert. (Illicit sex doesn't transgress the law of celibacy; only
marriage can do that.)
POST VATICAN II
Recently there has been talk of the possibility of a relaxing of the law of
celibacy. A Knights of Columbus book states that a few married Protestant
ministers converted to Rome and were permitted to continue
married.
In
Nov., 1978, Pope John Paul II reaffirmed the traditional rule of celibacy
for Roman Catholic priests.
Repealing this law would scandalize many Roman Catholics who consider
the celibate state holier than the married state, as well as be a hardship
on parish budgets. Married priests would have to set a good example and
have large families.
A homosexual priest in Philadelphia admitted his sex preference during an
interview on TV but stated that he didn't practice homosexuality "because
he was celibate."
The Vatican II document OPTATIUM TOTIUS (10/28/65) states, "Virginal
consecration to Christ is of greater excellence than Christian marriage."
In San Francisco in September 1987, Pope John Paul II encouraged
homosexuals to live a celibate life.
CHRISTIAN COMMENT
The scripture teaches that bishops should be the husband of one wife;
forbidding to marry is among the doctrine of devils that will be taught (I
Timothy 3:2; 4:1-3). Matthew 8:14 and I Corinthians 9:5 teach that Peter
had a wife.
We see the spirit of moral perversion is evident throughout the
apostate element of Christianity. It has always been evident in the Roman Catholic Church, with its wicked forced
"celibacy." The history of Roman Catholicism reads like something
out of the pages of a Sodom and Gomorrah chronicle.
Large numbers of the popes, even, were morally perverse, and
countless Catholic priests were given over to homosexuality. Even
Roman Catholic histories admit this, and they are usually less than
forthright about the moral failure of the "mother church." The
widespread perversion continues to this day.
The Catholic Church in America has paid out hundreds of millions
of dollars in fines because of lawsuits won against homosexual
priests. The November 13, 1989, issue of Time magazine contained
an article titled "The Battle Over Gay Clergy" which reported that
there may be some 10,000
homosexual
Roman Catholic priests in
the United States alone. In Australia, a code of conduct was
recently recommended which would forbid Catholic priests to be
alone with children. The Catholic Church there has admitted its
priests have abused hundreds of children.
A report produced in New South Wales this year highlighted the
homosexual problem among the "clergy." The report said that many
of the priests thought "their celibacy vow concerned only
heterosexual relations and did not address indecent acts with boys
or adolescent males" (Religious News Service, Sept. 25, 1997). In
other words, they knew there were forbidden to marry a woman,
but they did not understand that they were forbidden to have sexual
relations with boys! Examples of the moral perversion among
Catholic priests could be given for country after country.
SECULAR JOURNALS
From THE ORLANDO SENTINEL (8/24/86): "According to a survey conducted for
the Archdiocese of Miami, 60% of the respondents favored allowing priests
to marry. An archdiocesan spokesperson, Marsha Whelan, said, `My sense is
we're right in there. . . that, nationally, we fit in with how most
Catholics think. . .'"
From THE ORLANDO SENTINEL (8/16/86): "In an essay printed in ST. ANTHONY
MESSENGER, a national Franciscan magazine, Priest William Wells said that
the law of celibacy was routinely flouted by many priests, some of whom
have married secretly and who pass off their wives as live-in housekeepers
in the rectory. Others have lovers, he adds.
"The sanctions against sexual activity for priests, Wells suggests, have
led to `rampant psychosexual problems' including an upsurge in reported
cases of Catholic clergy involved in child molestation and a `noticeable
increase in the number of gay seminarians' at Catholic divinity schools."
From San Diego TRIBUNE, 8/17/90 (page 25). "Ex-Atlanta archbishop intended
to disclose affair, woman's lawyer says. Former Roman Catholic archbishop
Eugene Marino said he intended to tell everyone 'including the pope' about
his two-year love affair with a church worker who claims she is his wife,
the woman's lawyer said.
"Vickie Long...said that church officials knew of the affair from its
beginning in the summer of 1988. 'Archbishop Marino and I exchanged vows in
December 1988 and I have considered myself to be married to him since that
time.'
"Long's lawyer charged at a news conference that church officials eager
to split up the couple had sought to convince Long that Marino was insane.
"Long's news conference came a day after an Atlanta television station
reported Marino was admitted to a psychiatric hospital last week after
attempting suicide. The archdiocese has declined to comment on the report.
"Marino was the highest ranking black Roman Catholic in the United
States. His successor, Bishop James Lyke, said that the main reason for
Marino's resignation was the Long affair. Since then, evidence of affairs
between Long, another priest and a nun have emerged."
From GREENVILLE NEWS, 8.12.90. "Up to half of Roman Catholic priests in the
United States do not uphold their vows of celibacy, according to estimates
from a twenty-five-year study by a former Roman Catholicism priest who is
now a psychotherapist. W. Richard Sipe's study indicates that 20% of the
priests have a clear pattern of heterosexual behavior, 10% to 13% are
homosexually active, and 6% are involved sexually with minors. While half
of priests generally support the idea of celibacy, only 2% fully achieve
it, Sipe says."
From St. Paul PIONEER PRESS, 6/22/91. "THIS CATHOLIC PRIEST NOT REQUIRED TO
TAKE VOW OF CELIBACY." Report of Rev. Walter Mitchell and his wife Noel.
His age is not given, she is 62.
On June 3, he became the first married person to be ordained in Miami.
"Father Mitch" is quoted as saying, "I think priests should have the option
of being married." He is an ex-Episcopalian priest. His conversion to
Catholicism was "something of an evolution."
He is one of over 50 Episcopalian priests to be converted to
Catholicism, and they are welcomed to the Roman priesthood because they
never took vows of celibacy. On the other hand, R.C. priests who took the
vow (because they were obliged to) cannot
licitely
marry even if they have
left the church. Some who have left and married now desire to return but
are not allowed. Married Catholics can become priests as did two Brazilians
recently, but they must agree to a brother/sister relation with their wife.
Terence Dosh of Minneapolis heads a group of 5,500 married priests who
want to be clergymen again. He said, "I am happy that Walter has found
faith and wants to celebrate as a Catholic priest. What bothers me is the
double standards...They can't possible justify ordaining this guy and not
guys...who already are priests."
From USA TODAY, 12/8/93. MISCONDUCT BY CLERGY IS NO
SURPRISE. Citing relationships among nuns during her 10 years as Sister
Augusta, ex-nun Patricia Savas says that she witnessed "situations that ranged
from compromising to aberrant."
Her opinion is that they would have behaved differently under normal
heterosexual living conditions, and goes on to cite those who "still remain
seriously damaged in mind and body, sequestered in institutions referred to as
'retreats.' A tragic number became alcoholics and quietly drank themselves to
death."
She accuses celibacy of being a major cause of this waste of lives, and
explains, "This mandate was issued under the assumption that celibate men
and women are somehow more pleasing to God than married people. Like
other man-made rules, it is totally without scriptural validity...The only
comment (Christ) ever made was, 'Let him who can take it, take it' (Matthew
19:12)."
She believes the church should and could change this rule, and remarks,
"Any organization that can, with the stroke of its sacerdotal pen, remove the
pain of eternal punishment from a Friday hot dog and pluck St. Christopher
from millions of dashboards can surely admit that it has erred in other
matters".
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