Denver Catholic

23 DENVER CATHOLIC | JULY 27-AUGUST 9, 2019 I n October, the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian Region will be held at the Vatican. On the agenda: a discussion on the possibility of ordaining married men to the priesthood in that region, due to a par- ticularly dire lack of voca- tions. The news has reawakened discussion on priestly celibacy in gen- eral, and whether the time has come to relax the requirement on a wider level. And so, I figured it was time to revisit the subject here, as well. To set the tone, I'd like to begin my discussion with a very short quiz: Q: Why does the Roman Catholic Church require lifelong celibacy for ordained priests? A) Because sex is bad, dirty and evil, and our priests should not defile themselves; B) Because we don't want to have to support priests' families out of col- lection funds; C) None of the above; or D) Both of the above. The correct answer would be C, none of the above. So why, then? Why on earth would these men have to give up the possi- bility of marriage and children, just because they want to serve God as priests? Priestly celibacy is a discipline of the Church, not a doctrine. It could change. The rule has already been relaxed in relation to married Episco- palian priests who convert to Cathol- icism. In this era of widespread priest shortages, and even wider-spread scandals, should we consider expand- ing that exemption, and remove the requirement of priestly celibacy entirely? Wouldn't a married priest- hood encourage more men, and per- haps healthier men, to respond to the call of God? Perhaps. But at what cost? Discussions about the elimi- nation of priestly celibacy are not new. They've been around as long as priestly celibacy itself. One of the periods of particularly spirited discussion on the subject was in the late 1960's. In response, Pope Paul VI wrote an encyclical entitled Sacerdo- talis Caelibatus. In it, he explained the reasons for the Church's long history of priestly celibacy, and he enumerated three "significances," or reasons, for the tradition: Christological: The priesthood isn't just a job. It is a state of being. It encompasses his entire existence. It places a mark on his soul — a mark that will follow him into eternity. The priest is ordained by a bishop, who was ordained by a bishop, who was ordained by another bishop, in an unbroken chain that goes clear back to the apostles. And through that sac- ramental ordination, and the power and grace it conveys, the priest stands in persona Christi — in the person of Christ. He has the power to conse- crate the Eucharist — to turn bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. He can forgive sins. And so, standing in the person of Christ, the priest seeks to be like him in all things. He imitates Christ's life, which includes Christ's celibacy. But, you say, Christ also had a beard. Does the priest have to imitate that, too? How far do we have to take this whole imitation thing? Well, the question we must ask is: What was integral to Christ's ministry? Was celibacy integral? What would it look like if Christ had married and had children? He would have had to work to support them. He would have had to provide them a home. No itiner- ate preaching, moving from town to town. Jesus was not going to be an absentee husband and father. It was the freedom of celibacy that allowed him to give himself totally to the ser- vice of the Father and the Father's children. So yes, I'd say it was integral. The beard, not so much. Ecclesiological: This basically means it is about the Church. Our understanding of a priest is not that he's a single guy, a bachelor. He, like Christ, is in fact "married" to the Church. You've heard all that talk about how the Church is the "bride of Christ." We really believe that. And the priest, standing in persona Christi, likewise becomes the Bridegroom, giving his life for the Church, and especially for the part of the Church he serves. He doesn't just o"er his "workday" to us, the flock. He o"ers his life. He serves us as a husband serves his wife. (And we the faithful, as good "wives", should likewise be going out of our way to love and care for our priests.) His attention and a"ections are not divided between his bride, the Church, and an earthly bride and family. He has far greater freedom than a married man — free- dom to not only serve his flock, but to pray and meditate and to grow closer to the Christ whom he represents on this earth. Which then prepares him for further service to the flock. Eschatological: This means it's about the next life. Remember my last column, about the Poor Clare Sisters who make the radical choice to live this life as if were already eternal life, focusing only on Christ? Well, priests participate in that too. Scripture says that, in Heaven, we will neither marry nor be given in marriage. (Mt 22:30) Priests and consecrated religious fore- shadow that here, reminding us that everything that happens in this life is just a prelude to the life to come. And so, for all of these reasons, I oppose the wholesale elimination of the requirement of priestly celibacy. I realize that we already have excep- tions. I know several of those "excep- tions," and I think they are wonderful people and wonderful priests. But I think they would acknowledge the di"erence between the exception and the rule, and that the loss of priestly celibacy would change our under- standing of the character and charism of the priesthood. The priesthood would be increasingly perceived as just another career choice — one to be entered and left at will. And whatever the priesthood may be, it is definitely not just another job. The case for priestly celibacy Guest Column Mary Beth is a Denver- based real estate agent and syndicated columnist. She is the author of We're on a Mission from God and Real Love. She can be reached via her website at www.mblovesdenver.com. MARY BETH BONACCI number of temptations that under- mine the faith: a false development of doctrine that seeks to update faith in accord with the times and advocat- ing for a paradigm shift, a distortion of the role of conscience that would place it above the Church's author- ity, and an eclipse of the integrity of the sacraments and morality in the face of new ideologies that accept sin as normative rather than helping to overcome it through grace and conversion. All these problems point to the need to recover a sense of faith that receives and accepts a supernatural revelation from God in humility, rather than placing oneself above it and manipulating it. Müller recog- nizes confusion in the Church and points out the need for truth to serve as the foundation for our life and salvation: "Truth is not an abstract theory in the heads of a few individ- uals, but rather the ground on which everyone finds stability and strength, and the source from which all can quench their thirst for God and eter- nal life (Jn 4:14). Only the unambig- uous character of the doctrine of the faith makes possible the breadth of the pastoral perspective and an ori- entation toward the goals, and this is so from every starting point. For God wills the salvation of all mankind and also that everyone should come to the knowledge of God and of the truth of his revelation (1 Tim 2:4)" (9). Not only must we come this knowl- edge of the truth, but we also must live it. Faith provides us with a rela- tionship that sheds light on the mean- ing of our life and calls us into a com- munion of love: "By faith, then, we see the transcendent horizon — of human history, and of the personal destiny of each human being made in God's image and destined for his house- hold — that can motivate us to uphold human dignity without exceptions, even in the hardest cases. By faith, we gain the possibility of redeeming the su"ering that the just must endure in a fallen world. And by faith, we add intimate love of God himself to the natural loves that motivate our perse- verance" (149). The truth is a gift entrusted to the Church and, through her, o"ered to each one of us. The Church must maintain this gift faithfully and we all must abide within it. If we do so, it will serve as a light that, despite all darkness, keeps our gaze upon the Word: The one who is Truth itself. CORRECTION In the July 13 issue, on page 10, we mis- takenly misspelled Deacon A.J. Misiti's name. We apologize for the error.

• Cover