Postscripts From The Catholic Spitfire Grill

I saw this question on Yahoo! Answers today.

Why does God punish gays for "leaving the use of women" but recompenses priests who take no use of women at all? : I mean the bible tells us clearly to take use (see verse below) of women and multiply and have kids. But both gays and priests reject women. According to the same bible, both are going against the nature. Gays reject women, and choose men. Priests reject both men and women (some choose boys) and choose celibacy.

Romans 27 "And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error."

First, priestly celibacy is a discipline not dogma. In fact, not all Roman Catholic priests are celibate. When an ordained and married priest converts to the Roman Catholic Church from a religious tradition with a valid priesthood such as the Orthodox faith, they are still allowed to exercise their ministry in the Catholic Church. And tomorrow, the Vatican could lift the requirements of priestly celibacy just like they changed the pre-Communion fast requirements from midnight of day before to one hour before receiving communion.

I have frequently heard the argument that priestly celibacy is “not scriptural.” Some people look at Genesis 1: 28 "Be fruitful and multiply" as a scriptural argument against celibacy, but it s cleat that this is a general requirement for all of humankind and specific exceptions are not in violation of the admonition. Jeremiah is told by God not to marry (ch 16) and Jesus spoke favorably of celibacy:

Matthew 19:11-12: "Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom it is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of God . Whoever can accept this ought to accept it."

Honestly I find this one verse to be a powerfully compelling argument for celibacy. How does anyone look at the words of Our Lord himself and then claim that celibacy is wrong? Or a "man made tradition"? Celibacy is a voluntary discipline encouraged by Our Lord himself. No man in the Catholic faith is required to be a priest and take vows of celibacy. The Catholic Church does not forbid marriage or service to the church by married people. The Catholic Church however, does take he words of Our Lord in the gospel with great seriousness. Arguably with greater seriousness than many of orur separated brothers and sisters in faith. How many other Christian groups take the words of the gospel with such faith? Where else do we find so many people willing to follow Our Lord and renounce marriage for the sake of the kingdom of God ? Ironically, the person who asked the question above quoted St. Paul and St. Paul explicitly spoke in favor of celibacy:

1 Corinthians 7:7-9  “Indeed, I wish everyone to be as I am, but each has a particular gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. Now to the unmarried and to widows, I say: it is a good thing for them to remain as they are, as I do, but if they cannot exercise self-control they should marry, for it is better to marry than to be on fire.”  

1 Corinthians 7:32-34 I should like you to be free of anxieties. An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy in both body and spirit. A married woman, on the other hand, is anxious about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

In Revelation we again see consecrated celibacy in 14:3-4

“They were singing (what seemed to be) a new hymn before the throne, before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn this hymn except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been ransomed from the earth. These are they who were not defiled with women; they are virgins and these are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been ransomed as the firstfruits of the human race for God and the Lamb.”

Then of course, there is the idea that somehow if a man is celibate he will become homosexual or a pedophile or some kind of sexual predator. I personally find this to be incredibly insulting to men in general. Those who posit this argument would have you believe that men are such weak creatures that voluntarily abstaining from sex would make them so unable to control themselves that the only possible solution is to prey on children. And frankly, the idea that abstaining from licit heterosexual relationships will make someone homosexual is completely without merit. Ok heterosexuals out there; raise your hands if you think that sexual abstinence would cause you to prefer sexual relations with a member of your own sex? Didn’t think so. Would sexual abstinence make you desire sexual relations with a child? Didn’t think so.  In fact a study in the Psychiatric Journal of the University of Ottawa reported that "most of the middle-aged pedophiles have had significant adult sexual activity." Fifty-eight percent of the pedophiles in one study had at least one child, while other research indicated that "more than two-thirds of the married pedophiles in their sample had children, with an average of two to three children per subject." (cited here see footnotes 45 and 46)

Far from being unnatural, priestly celibacy imitates the state of life chosen by Jesus. It celebrates sacrifice for a greater good. It allows a priest to serve the church with minimal worldly distractions. The fact that some priests fall sort of the goal is to be expected. There are hypocrites and sinners everywhere. The fact that so many good and faithful priests triumph in this difficult sacrifice for the kingdom should be proof of God's grace in their lives. The kind of faith that allows such selflessness should be praised. This discipline is faithful to ALL of Sacred Scripture and stands as a positive witness that whenever Our Lord sets us a difficult task, He grants Grace in abundance.

Catholic Answers: How to Argue for Priestly Celibacy; Understanding the Priest Scandal