The most conspicuous aspect of a Catholic priest’s life is his celibacy. That stands them, and a few other religions’ priests out. Yet, it is still their celibate life that oftentimes opens them up to scandals. Assistant Editor, CHINWE MADUAGWU, examines the reasons and history behind the practice, weighs the pros and cons and asks the question; should Catholic priests be given the go ahead to get married?
Celibacy is one of the biggest self-sacrifices a Catholic priest is asked to make. In choosing to become ordained as a priest, he must forgo marriage, children and sexual fulfillment.
According to the Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law, celibacy is a “special gift of God,” which allows practitioners to follow more closely the example of Christ, who was chaste.
Another reason the Catholic church insists on the celibate life for its priests is because it believes that when a priest enters into service of God, the church becomes his highest calling. The thinking here, is that if a priest were to have a family, there would be potential for conflict between his spiritual and familial duties.
For the Vatican, therefore, it is easier for unattached men to commit to the church, as they have more time for devotion and fewer distractions.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 7 vs 7 – 9 St. Paul said, “For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after his manner and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for men if they abide even as I. But if he cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.”
Many have alluded to the above position of St. Paul as the reason behind the celibate life of Catholic priests. Yet Paul did not expressly forbid marriage nor did he mandate celibacy. It is a question of choice.
Over time, the Catholic church has had to contend with the scandal and embarrassments arising from cases of sexual abuse and assault against priests. Some have remained in the realm of allegation while some have been proven and sanctions and punishments meted out. So it is not a new thing. In recent times though, it appears like the incidences of the acts have been on the rise or the hitherto hidden acts are being brought to the fore especially in the Western climes.
A few days ago, a former Vatican diplomat was sentenced to five years in prison for child pornography. The high ranking official and priest, a Monsignor, pleaded guilty at a Vatican court, which found dozens of pornographic photos and videos on his phone.
In May, 34 bishops in Chile, as a matter of fact, all the bishops in Chile offered to resign following a child sex scandal and a cover up. Pope Francis has already accepted three resignations. Also in May, the Archbishop of Adelaide, Australia, was convicted of concealing historic sexual abuse in the 1970s, and in 2013, the Holy See recalled and defrocked its envoy to the Dominican Republic and ordered that he be tried for child sex abuse.
The list of such stories are unending and go far back over the years. As St. Paul said, it is better to marry if you can’t resist the urge. With this in mind then, one wonders, rather than go through the pains and scandals of sex abuse cases, should the Catholic church give permission to her priests to get married? Would that not be a step in the right direction in checking the frequency of sex related scandals?
Mr. Patrick Anyatonwu does not think so. He believes celibacy is the “cardinal key” to the Catholic faith. According to him, the status quo should not be changed as being celibate reduces distractions for the priests.
While acknowledging that “sex is a serious business to be ignored,” Mr. Anyatonwu advised the church “to school the priests.” He stressed, “celebacy is good, let the status quo remain. It cures distraction. Wives will distract the priests.”
Mr. Anyatonwu argued that some pastors do worst things than the Rev Fathers.
Rev. Chudi Ibegbu, is an ordained minister of the Anglican Communion, and for him, the provisions of 1Tiomothy, 3: 1- 13, sum up his position. In the letter written by St. Paul to Timothy, he elucidated the qualities he believed a bishop and a deacon should have. In that letter unlike his letter to the Corinthians, Paul says a bishop or deacon should be the husband of one wife among other things.
But Mr. Mike Nwabufo, is strongly opposed to Catholic priests taking wives because that in his views would be the “end of the Catholic church as we know it.”
According to him, celibacy is one of the strongest traditions of the church and changing that now would weaken the it.
He argued that it was not only Catholic priests that practice celibacy, pointing to Bhudist priests and the priests of some Eastern churches. For him, the sexual scandals plaguing the church was not enough reason to say priests should get married.
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Mr. Nwabufo argued that some married men and women still go outside of their marriages for sexual gratifications.
Mr. Mike Ajose also does not believe it is a good idea for Catholic priests to start getting married. Hear him; “there’s a reason Christ told his followers that they have to leave everything they have if they want to follow him. And I’m very sure at that time most of them had wives and children they had to abandon so as to follow Christ. My answer is NO…. However, the church should be more strict about accepting people into the priesthood.
“Also, there should be a way to check up on them on how they are coping with the life of abstinence because as we all know, it is not as easy as it seems. Finally, we should always remember them in our prayers because their fall is what the evil one wants to see and they need our help to fight against it.”
For Mr. Ugochukwu Orji, the issue of Catholic Priests and celibacy or marriage, which has long been of concern can be viewed from two persectives based on what purpose it will serve. “If the purpose of them getting married is to take care of their sexual need, then my response would be in the affirmative. I’ve had cause to ask my then Chaplain if there is a secret code as regards satisfying their sexual need, but his response was no. We’ve heard and read about sexual scandals in the Catholic church and it calls to mind the need to reappraise the celibacy code.
“If the purpose of Catholic Priests getting married is for companionship, then my response would be that it is not really necessary. The responsibility involved in being a Catholic Priest is quite enormous and requires dedication. Priesthood is a calling that requires personal conviction. It is spiritually demanding,” he said.
An article published by The Economist in March 2017, tilted “Why Catholic priests practice celibacy,” noted that while the number of catholics is increasing, the number of priests is decreasing. It said:“As the world has changed, the Church has had a harder time recruiting priests. Numbers have been dropping: between 1970 and 2014, the world’s Catholic population grew from 654m to 1.23bn, while the number of priests declined from 420, 000 to 414, 000. Some prospective priests don’t want to choose between having a life with God and having a family. It is not inconceivable that the time will come again when they can have both.
As far back as 2003, about 160 Catholic priests from Milwaukee wrote and signed a letter proposing or calling for ‘optional celibacy,’ and forwarded it to the Council of Bishops. They cited shortage of priests as part of the reason for their proposal. Though nothing much has yet been heard on the the matter since then, it points to the fact that the issue is being discussed even among the priesthood.
Indeed, it is not easy to live a celibate life, vow or no vow. Still a lot is expected from those who on their own volition take such a vow.