The Catholic Undertow

Mary Ann Collins, A Former Catholic Nun

Chapter 16

Mandatory Celibacy

Recently, we have heard a lot about Roman Catholic priests who raped or seduced children and young teenagers (primarily boys). Apparently, these priests were unable to handle mandatory celibacy.

The early Church did not require celibacy. We know that the Apostle Peter was married, because Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law when she had a fever. (See Matthew 8:14-15 and Mark 1:30-31). We know that bishops were married, because Paul gave them the guideline that they should only have one wife. (1 Timothy 3:2) Paul mentioned that Peter, other apostles, and Jesus’ brothers were married. (1 Corinthians 9:5)

The Eastern Rite Church is a branch of the Roman Catholic Church. Eastern Rite priests are allowed to marry.

There are some Roman Catholic priests who are legally married. Over 100 married Protestant ministers converted to Catholicism and were ordained as Roman Catholic priests. (This is online.)[1]

Some priests are secretly married. When I was a Catholic, I had a regular confessor, a priest I met with every week for spiritual guidance. Years later, I was shocked to learn that, while he was my confessor, he was secretly married. (Eventually he left the Catholic Church and openly married his wife. Years later, he left his wife and children, went back to the Catholic Church, and was reinstated as a priest.)

When I was a nun, we were taught that the purpose of celibacy was to enable us to be more totally dedicated to God. The Apostle Paul said:

“But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.” (1 Corinthians 7:32-33)

This shows that celibacy is a valid calling, which can help people be more fully devoted to God. When God calls, He equips. I have known precious celibates (both Catholic and Protestant) whose devotion to God is inspiring.

But what about requiring people to be celibate? Earlier in the same chapter, Paul said:

“For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.” (1 Corinthians 7:7-9, emphasis added)

While discussing celibacy, Paul said that God has given people different gifts. It is good for a person who has been given the gift of celibacy to be celibate. However, if they do not have that gift, then it is better for them to marry.

In spite of Paul’s admonition, the Roman Catholic Church requires that priests, nuns, and monks be celibate. How did that happen?

Pope Gregory VII reigned from 1073 to 1085. At the time, many Catholic priests were married. Kings and noblemen donated property to the Roman Catholic Church in exchange for the faithful service of priests. Some priests tried to leave this property to their heirs. In addition, they had loyalty to the noblemen who provided them with homes. In order to protect Church property, and to ensure that the loyalty of the priests went to the Pope, and not to secular rulers, Pope Gregory abolished clerical marriage. He passed laws requiring that priests be celibate, and he got rid of married priests.[2]

In 1089, by passing a decree, the Synod of Melfi (under Pope Urban II) turned the wives of married priests into Church property. The priests were put into prison, and their wives were sold into slavery. Their children were either sold into slavery, or else abandoned. (You can read about this online.)[3]

Married priests were a target of the Inquisition. (This is online.)[4]

There is a website for priests who are struggling with celibacy.[5] There is an online support group for priests and nuns who are involved in “romantic relationships.”[6] There are support groups for children who have been fathered by Catholic priests.[7] (You can read about these groups online.)

In the last fifteen years, the Roman Catholic Church in America paid nearly one billion dollars because of Catholic priests who were convicted of sexual abuse. Catholic priests in ten other countries have also been convicted of sexual abuse. There are two support groups for helping women who are sexually involved with Catholic parish priests. In contrast, Eastern Rite churches don’t require celibacy, and they don’t have these problems. (Information is online.)[8]

Wherever you have sinful human beings, some people will engage in sexual exploitation. However, the frequency of cases involving celibate Catholic priests is unusual. Because children see priests as representing God, being sexually exploited by them can result in spiritual confusion in addition to emotional trauma.

The sad thing is that all of this could have been avoided. There is a branch of the Catholic Church (the Eastern Rite) where it is normal for priests to be married.[9] If it is OK for them, then why does the Catholic Church require its other priests to be celibate?

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

I once had the privilege of helping a young man overcome the trauma of having been homosexually raped when he was five years old. While I was praying with him, the Holy Spirit recalled a Scripture verse to mind: “There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him.” (Mark 7:15) He was not defiled because of what someone else had done. We discussed that and prayed about it.

The next thing we talked about was the importance of forgiving the man who did it. And forgiving his family for not protecting him from it. Chapter 20 (“The Challenge of Forgiving”) has some of the things that we discussed. Then we asked God to enable him to forgive. For two weeks that young man worked on forgiving. Then we met again.

He had a sense of shame. He often hung his head, looking down at the ground. So we asked God to remove the shame--to just take it away. And He did. After that, the young man held his head up and looked you right in the eye.

Then God began a process of restoring that young man’s soul. (Psalm 23:3) Every day, the young man prayed and read Scripture. And every day, he saw things in Scripture that brought emotional healing. It was a gradual process that healed him emotionally, and brought his thinking and his feelings into line with Scripture.

If you have ever been through an experience that made you feel ashamed and defiled, you can do what that young man did. Ask God to lead you step by step. He will be faithful to do it. He loves you. He wants you to be set free.

If you died right now, would you go to Heaven? If you are not sure, please read Appendix A (“Eternal Life”). If you are a former Catholic, you may think that you are born-again, but not really understand what that means. (That’s what happened to me.) Please read Appendix A, so that you can be sure of your salvation.