| OPTIONAL CELIBACY IS THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE Based on the Letter to Pope John Paul II from the North Atlantic Federation of Married Roman Catholic Priests for a Renewed Priesthood. on Sept. 1, 2003. Summarized by Rev. Dr. Neil Parado, www.rentapriest.com/revneil *WHAT IS CELIBACY ? Celibacy refers either to the state of being unmarried, single or celibate, or to the gift of staying single,unmarried or celibate. Optional Celibacy means that one has the option or the right of choosing either to marry or to remain celibate. Mandatory Celibacy means that one is mandated or commanded by a higher authority to remain celibate. In the case of a candidate for the priesthood and the ordained person in the Latin or Western Roman Catholic Church the mandate to remain celibate comes from the Pope. *WHY IS OPTIONAL CELIBACY THE ONLY ANSWER ? There are, among others, 5 arguments which inspire this our belief: 1. The Inequality of Eastern and Western Legislation with regard to Access to the Priesthood: It is well known that the Catholic Churches of the Oriental Rites do not have a Celibacy Law. Of the 20 Rites of the Catholic Church, only the Latin Rite has imposed mandatory celibacy on its priests. It is, however, impossible to explain to the faithful why, in a question of central importance, one part of the Catholic Church has a totlly different legislation from the other. Isn't the rule that all are equal before the law a fundamental requirement of all justice and all legal order ? Catholic faithful likewise see a contrast between the positive acceptance of married former Episcopalian or Anglican, Lutheran, and other Protestant denomination ministers now ordained for the Latin Rite and the imposition of celibacy on thousands of other men who are called to marriage and priesthood in the Catholic Church. 2. The Priest Shortage in the Western Church: The decline in priestly vocatioins is dramatic and in itself a sign of the times. In Europe and North America more than one third of the parishes have no resident priest. In the countries of the Eastern Catholic Churches God calls married and unmarried men to the priesthood, and no complaint of a priest shortage is heard. Is it not obvious that God calls married persons also in the Western Church, and that only by the law of mandatory celibacy are they prevented from entering the priesthood ? Yes, there is no lack of priestly vocations. The problem lies in the Church's law of mandatory celibacy which is the essential reason for the shortage of priests to ensure that the Catholic faithful have access to the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. It seems that for our Bishops celibacy is more important than the Eucharist. 3. The Frightening Numbers of Sexual Abuse Cases among Priests in the Western Church: In contrast to the sheer unmanageable cases of pedophilia in the USA, Mexico, Ireland, and in lesser numbers also in some European countries, there are the 13,000 married deacons in the USA, among whom no case of pedophilia has occurred. Nor do we hear of such cases in the Eastern Rite Churches. Even if it is true that pedophilia is found among married persons as well, the contrasting figures from North America and the Eastern Churches certainly provide a strong indication that, where marriage for clerics is permitted, criminal substitutes are less likely. Mandatory celibacy is a major factor in the massive sexual abuse of minors and women throughout the Catholic world. 4. The Arguments of the Second Vtican Council: Vatican II declared in Presbyterorum Ordinis, n. 16 that "perfect continence ( celibacy ) is not required by the very nature of priesthood," and Pope John Paul II repeated this statement in his General Audience of July 7, 1993. Can something which is not necessary be imposed by law ? Every law must be necessary, according to the theory of the just law, otherwise the law is unjust. 5. The Words of Scripture: Holy Scripture, the Council and Canon Law state that celibacy is a charism, a special gift from God. Scripture, however, likewise states that "not all" receive this gift: "I would that all men were indeed as I am. However, each has his own charism from God, one of this kind, one of another, " says St. Paul in I Corinthians 7:7. Therefore, one who has got the one gift, the charism of marriage, cannot be forced by law to possess the other gift, that of celibacy. What Paul was unable to impose, a Papal Law cannot decree either. No legislator can issue a law against the once-given gifts of God; otherwise he lays an intolerable burden on the subjects who, in spite of their prayer which the Council recommends, have not received the gift of celibacy from God, but the gift of marriage. www.eyicom.com/?key=GORY *What is the Situation of Married Priests and their Wives ? 1. We have experienced in our own bodies and souls the reality that we did not receive the gift of remaining unmarried but we received the gift of marriage. Therefore most of us priests asked and received the dispensation from the law of celibacy through the Pope. Those who, because they were unable to live a celibate life, been dispensed by a Papal Rescript, are not "unfaithful" priests, as some cardinals and bishops claim. Even though we promised obedience to the law on the day of our ordination, we later on discovered and followed our true vocation to partnership and received the affirmation of the highest Church authority for our vocation to marriage. We urgently ask the Pope to oppose the denigration of our vocation. 2. The fact that we priests are called to marriage does not, on the other hand, mean that we are not called to priesthood. We suffer from the loss of our ministry, and yet we priests and wives have become more mature in our marriage. We priests therefore have become even more able to fulfill that ministry. If the law of mandatory celibacy, as we stated above, is unjust and impossible for those who are not called to celibacy, then this must always have been the case. Therefore we have unjustly been dismissed from ministry. 3.By our dispensation we priests did not become laypersons, and in fact cannot become so. We remain, according to the Council of Trent, Sess. 23, Ch.4, Can.4, priests forever. |