The Vatican: Priests and Marriage

Thursday, the Vatican Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, made a comment in the Venezuelan newspaper, El Universal, that has everyone thinking the Pope is prepared to discuss whether or not priests should be able to marry.  Several things bother me, right off the bat, about this article.

 

Just to be clear, the photo to the left is of me, not Parolin.  He does not have male pattern baldness, although I think he carries a bit more weight around the middle than I do.  Regardless, I think I'm the one that has it all "goin on!"  I could be wrong, but I doubt it. 

Anyway, the Secretary of State makes a comment.  How many times have Hilary Clinton or Joe Biden talked "out of school" and done some serious "what I meant to say was" back pedaling?  Second, who did he make the comment too?  A Venezuelan newspaper.  Venezuela, well known for their stands on free speech and freedom of the press.

 

But, lets assume the statement VSS Parolin made had some teeth to it.  What is the issue?  Celibacy is not church dogma, it is tradition.  Some would argue, the Apostle Paul made this clear in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, 7:32-35, to wit:

 

"He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord--how he may please the Lord.  But he who is married cares about the things of the world--how he may please his wife.  The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in both body and spirit.  But she who is married cares about the things of the world--how she may please her husband.  And I say this for your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction."

This seems to make it fairly clear that in order to serve the Lord fully, you must be untethered by matters of the heart and things of the world.  The verse even covers women which, of course, would explain the many convents where nuns can ply their service to the Lord.  So, Paul seems to make a case for the Lord, except, there seems to be a small issue of authorship.

 

Like most of the rest of the Bible, the Epistles to the Corinthians may  have passages that were added at later stages.  Two passages of note are  11:2-16 and 14:34-35, the latter of which has been "hotly debated" for issues I will not bore you with.  Suffice to say that, for me, this calls into question what historians and Christian theologians classify as "undisputed" authorship.  There is no pure source document available.  I offer that there seems to be plenty open for dispute, especially when the issues are being "hotly debated" by the powers that be. 

 

I begin to think, believing what you read in the Bible is like believing everything you read on the Internet.  What we need for the Bible is an app directing us to a "Snopes" style site that would give us a Bill O'Reilly-esque "fair and balanced" opinion of everything we read, so we can make an informed decision on how much faith we should invest in any one verse.

 

Turns out, from the research I've done, the earliest textual evidence forbidding marriage lies with two councils, the Councils of Elvira and Carthage.

 

It is decided that marriage be altogether prohibited to bishops, priests, and deacons, or to all clerics placed in the ministry, and that they keep away from their wives and not beget children; whoever does this, shall be deprived of the honor of the clerical office.  -- Council of Elvira, circa 305

  

It is fitting that the holy bishops and priests of God as well as the Levites, i.e. those who are in the service of the divine sacraments, observe perfect continence, so that they may obtain in all simplicity what they are asking from God; what the Apostles taught and what antiquity itself observed, let us also endeavour to keep… It pleases us all that bishop, priest and deacon, guardians of purity, abstain from conjugal intercourse with their wives, so that those who serve at the altar may keep a perfect chastity.  -- Council of Carthage, circa 390

 For me, historically, this makes more sense given the political and religious climate of the time.  Once again it would seem the religious leaders of old, to accommodate whatever agenda was being force fed in this period of history, saddled priests for the next 1700 years with the curse of celibacy.

Celibacy has not always been an edict of the church.  Boston College theology professor Thomas Groome states, "all of the apostles were married, with the possible exception of John."  he goes on to note that the Orthodox Church has always had a married priesthood.

I believe this will go the way of "no fish Friday" and wearing a suit to church.  I also believe that there will always be a sect of the Catholic faith not willing to give up the old ways.  For all the naysayers there will be a number of the faithful unwilling to toe the new party line. 

Maybe that's a good thing.  There should always be a last bastion of the faithful, just in case we're wrong.

As always, this is just my opinion.  Yours are just as important, if not more so.  Feel free to comment or sent me a confidential e-mail with your own take on this controversial topic.

Be at peace and try to have a glorious Sunday of spiritual awakening or discovery!