Those who embrace the paths of priesthood contract a sublime marriage with the Church. As the Spouse of Christ, she wants to be loved by the priest in the same total and exclusive way that she is loved by Jesus.
Newsroom (29/08/2022 11:00 AM, Gaudium Press) Among the issues in vogue today, that of priestly celibacy stands out. Since no explicit command in the New Testament can be found on this subject, controversies erupt, opinions diverge and celibacy begins to divide the waters in the ecclesiastical field. In the Latin Church, priests are forbidden to marry, but could this change?
In certain areas it seems easy to solve the problem: if the Divine Master has not given any order on the matter, in principle it would be enough if a Pope decided to suppress the rule. In this case, however, what value would be given to the archetypal example that Christ Himself – Supreme Priest – offered us of perfect chastity? Furthermore, the practice that has been maintained in the West for centuries cannot be gratuitous. On what is it based? When did it originate?
One can see that the marriage-priesthood relationship is not a subject of quick explanation, as some would like to simplify the realization of their aspirations. To shed some light on the quarrel, it is necessary to analyze not only the Scriptures but also Tradition.
However, since all construction – including intellectual construction – begins with the foundations, it is first necessary to understand the very idea of celibacy.
Perfect Continence and Celibacy
From the first centuries of the Church until today, the concept of continence is fundamental to clearly designate the obligation of the sacred minister. In its Latin etymology, it means the faculty to restrain oneself, to be master of one’s carnal inclinations and to rule over oneself, reaffirming the primacy of the law of the spirit over that of the flesh.
This is the word used by the Second Vatican Council when dealing with celibacy in the Decree Presbyterorum ordinis: “Perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, recommended by Christ the Lord.”[1]
However, it should be noted that the obligation of perfect continence – to which presbyters are bound – is even more profound than celibacy itself, since it implies abstention from any act, internal or external, against the Sixth and Ninth Commandments of the Decalogue.[2] This is to say that while the law of celibacy is limited to an external impediment, continence consists in freely making a commitment to practice the vows also in the internal forum, to be content not only in the eyes of men but above all in the eyes of God.[3]
A retrospective view of celibacy
One of the most striking aspects of the Church’s teachings is their historical continuity, a phenomenon that reveals an important truth: despite the vicissitudes inherent in man’s condition on this earth after original sin, it is the Holy Spirit Himself who guides the people of God. Thus, the understanding of priestly celibacy adopted by the Second Vatican Council has nothing contradictory to what has been taught by the Magisterium over the centuries.
In its “first steps,” the Mystical Body of Christ undoubtedly encountered pitfalls in establishing this new way of life, because the majority of candidates for priestly life in those days were married men. What to do?
As an excellent Mother and most faithful Spouse, the Church knew how to stimulate with gentleness and guard with firmness this gift of Christ, Priest and Virgin, as we read in a document from the beginning of the fourth century, issued by the Synod of Elvira, in present-day Spain:
“It has been fully resolved to impose on bishops, priests and deacons, as on all clerics in the exercise of the ministry, the following prohibition: that they abstain from their wives and do not beget children; however, whoever fails to follow this prohibition must so be removed from the clerical state.”[4]
However, this canon – the earliest legislation that has come down to us on the subject – does not mark the beginning of the history of celibacy: it consisted more properly of a remedy against decadence. As we read in an encyclical of Pius XI,[5] everything indicates that, at that time, celibacy was already a well-known traditional obligation. The Synod, in fact, did nothing but remind us of it and add a sanction for those who did not fulfill it.
Where, then, does such a practice originate?
According to some quite serious theological opinion,[6] a declaration formulated by the Second African Council of 390, and then repeated by the important Carthaginian Council of 419 – which was attended by two hundred and forty bishops, among them St. Augustine – may shed some light on the matter. Indeed, it reads, “It is fitting that the holy Bishops, the priests of God, and the Levites, that is, all those who serve in the divine sacraments, should be completely continent, so that they may obtain without difficulty what they ask of the Lord; that we may also custodian what the Apostles taught and what all the past has preserved.”[7]
The statement is bold. If we believe the words of the Council – to which the pontifical legate and the other prelates who composed it assented – we will need to admit that the law of celibacy finds its origin in the preaching of the Apostles, that is, in that body of teachings that are part of Divine Revelation, which cannot be altered even by the Sovereign Pontiff.[8]
The priest and his mission
Once the possible historical origins of ecclesiastical celibacy are known, let us now move on to consider its theological reasons. Why does the minister of the altar need to be celibate?
To tell the truth, the priestly mission itself leads him to it. As the words of the Second Vatican Council mentioned earlier attest, the priest embraces this state – burdensome from the human point of view – “for love of the Kingdom of Heaven”.
Indeed, the married man has many concerns. But the priest is asked to have only one concern, which is undivided: to love the Kingdom of God, that is, to let himself be consumed by the apostolic zeal that inflames the servants of Jesus, to save souls and to unite heaven and earth as mediator between the Creator and humanity.
The priest, like Christ, lives to present to the Father the people’s requests for forgiveness and supplications. And nothing could be more in keeping with divine wisdom than to choose as intercessor, among human beings, someone who suffers from the same needs as nature, weakened by original sin, and who, precisely because of this, understands perfectly the weakness of others, because he himself feels weak.
The sanctity of the priest depends on the sanctity of humanity
But the verse of Camões is also true: “A weak king makes a strong people weak.”[9] To sanctify the people and be pleasing to God in his prayers and sacrifices, the priest must not be the cause of comments which detract from the image of the Person of Christ, in which he acts, letting himself be influenced by bad habits which scandalize the little ones (cf. Mk 9:42).
The priest must present himself as a model to the faithful “by integrity in doctrine, gravity, soundness of speech, and blamelessness, so that the adversary may be put to shame, having no evil to say of us” (Tit 2:7-8). After all, he represents our Lord to men: “We act as ambassadors for Christ, and God himself makes exhortations through us” (2 Cor 5:20). In this way, the fervent cleric eschews magnanimity and seeks to be respected by his own, thus allowing his actions to have more influence among the faithful.
An indispensable condition for all that is meant by this “love of the Kingdom of Heaven” is to live in perfect and unassailable continence, like Christ, who “kept himself all his life in the state of virginity.”[10] Thus, the integrity of priests must be a weapon against evil tongues, for their holiness depends on the holiness of all mankind.
“What is best suited”
Effectively, few men are called by God to configure themselves with his Son in the priesthood. Such a group of chosen ones cannot lead a melancholic or self-centred existence but must look at the greatness of their mission and the dignity that derives from it. Only in this way will they be sufficiently aware that their soul must be purer than the rays of the sun, so that the Holy Spirit never abandons them, as St. John Chrysostom states. [11]
And it is with an immense friendship that the Paraclete says to them through the mouth of the Apostle: “I would like to see you free of all worries. The unmarried man cares about the things of the Lord, about how to please the Lord. The married man is concerned with the things of the world, trying to please his wife. [I say this for your benefit, not to tie you in knots, but to teach you what is best for you, what will unite you to the Lord without sharing” (1 Cor 7:32-33, 35).
But is not this commitment an unbearable burden? The priest is configured with Christ, but does not cease to be man, with his legitimate tendencies… This will certainly be the opinion of some who do not understand how God can give advice and the Church can impose a rule that contradicts the natural inclinations of the human being. These, no doubt, ignore that the One who lays down the burden, sustains it with His hand, sending graces to the chosen one. Or, perhaps, they have grown accustomed to relying exclusively on the mere forces of nature.
Far from seeking a chimerical compromise by which he can satisfy the demands of the flesh and the yearnings of the spirit, the sacred minister should seek support in the very ideal to which he dedicates his life, as Paul VI expressed it: “Whoever has chosen to be wholly Christ’s must find above all in intimacy with him and in his grace the strength of spirit needed to dispel melancholy and to overcome discouragement. He will not lack the protection of the Virgin Mother of Jesus and the maternal care of the Church, to whose service he has consecrated himself.”[12]
A sublime marriage
Superlatively happy is the priest who can say at the end of his earthly existence: “I live, but it is no longer I; it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20). The Magisterium of the Church has directed and is directing us to this glorious end when it dictates norms and rules indicating the practice of continence to priests.
Very eloquent in this sense is the Apostolic Exhortation Pastores dabo vobis, by John Paul II, in which the specific ontological bond that links the priest to Christ is emphasized: “The priest finds the full truth of his identity in the fact that he is a derivation, specific participation and a continuation of Christ himself, the High and Only Priest of the Eternal Covenant: he is a living and transparent image of Christ the Priest. […] The reference to Christ, then, is the essential key to understanding priestly realities.”[13]
The ecclesiastical law of celibacy finds its ultimate foundation in sacred ordination, which configures the priest to Our Lord, Head of the Church. The Church, “as the Spouse of Jesus Christ, wants to be loved by the priest in the same total and exclusive way in which Christ loves her.” [14]
For this reason, our Lord Jesus entrusts his most holy Spouse to chaste men, just as he entrusted his Immaculate Mother to the Virgin Apostle. From priests, He desires unblemished conjugal fidelity, in which there are no divisions in the practice of charity: “I have found the one whom my heart loves. I have held him, and will not let him go” (Ct 3:4). This is what the Church says to those who embrace the paths of the priesthood and contract a sublime marriage with her.
Extracted from: MORAIS, Victor Hugo. Priestly Celibacy: The Value of a Chaste Soul. Heralds of the Gospel, year 21, n. 246, jun. 2022, p. 16-19.
[1] VATICAN COUNCIL II. Presbyterorum ordinis, n.16: AAS 58, 1966, 1015.
[2] Cf. HORTAL, Jesús. Commentary on canon 277. In: CODE OF CANONICAL LAW. 12th edition revised and expanded with the Complementary Legislation of the CNBB. 20th ed.
[3] Once the concepts are clarified, from now on we will use celibacy as a synonym for continence, since both are inseparable in the life of the priest.
[Synod of Elvira, canon 33: DH 118-119.
[5] “The law of ecclesiastical celibacy, whose first written trace, which evidently presupposes an older custom, is found in a canon of the Council of Elvira at the beginning of the fourth century, when the persecution was still going on, does no more than make obligatory a certain moral demand, which we might say flows from the Gospel and from apostolic preaching” (Pius XI. Ad catholici sacerdotii: AAS 28, 1936, 25).
[6] For further study we recommend the solidly argued work: STICKLER, Alfonso Maria. Il celibato ecclesiastico. La sua storia e i suoi fondamenti teologici. Napoli: Chirico, 2010, p.36-42.
[7] COUNCIL OF CARTAGO. De continentia, 3: CCSL 259, 117-118.
[8] As for the discipline in the Eastern Churches, in which deacons and priests may continue using marriage after ordination, provided they meet certain requirements, Stickler explains that it was established at the Second Trullan Council, not ecumenical. According to the author, at this one modifications were made to the authentic text of the aforementioned Canons of Carthage, by which it was possible to introduce the divergent praxis. Still in his words, although Rome never gave approval to such determinations, she nobly respected the change in the ancient rule of continence (cf.)
[9] CAMÕES, Luís Vaz de. Os Lusíadas. Canto III, 138. In: Obras Completas. Porto: Portuguese Printing, 1874, t.III, p.129.
[10] SAINT PAUL VI. Sacerdotalis cælibatus, n.21: AAS 59, 1967, 665.
[St. John Chrysostom. Sur le sacerdoce, VI, 2: SC 272, 307.
[12] SAINT PAUL VI, op. cit.
[13] SAINT JOHN PAUL II. Pastores dabo vobis, n.12: AAS 84, 1992, 676-677.
[14] Idem, n.29, 704.
Compiled by Zephania Gangl