CNN.com: A Case for Celibacy

NCR ^ | May 17, 2009 | Tom Hoopes

[NYer]

“There is a very bad argument for celibacy, which has appeared throughout the tradition and which is, even today, defended by some,” so wrote Father Robert Barron (of the above Catholicism Project) at CNN.com yesterday.

That argument is “not just stupid, but dangerous.”

He presents a better one ... a shrewdly “lefty” one.

Let’s start with the stupid, dangerous one. “It goes something like this: Married life is spiritually suspect; priests, as religious leaders, should be spiritual athletes above reproach; therefore, priests shouldn’t be married.”

He points out that the Bible and tradition contradict that, from Genesis to Pope John Paul II. Or, more accurately, from Isaiah to Anthony de Mello.

The piece is helpful in that it essentially lays out what we can call a “lefty Catholic” Case for celibacy.

Don’t get me wrong. Father Barron is the on-fire for evangelization force behind The Catholicism Project. We wrote about him here.

Writes Father Barron:

Isaiah the prophet put it thus: “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my thoughts above your thoughts and my ways above your ways, says the Lord.” And it is at the heart of the First Commandment: “I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods besides me.” The Bible thus holds off all the attempts of human beings to divinize or render ultimate some worldly reality. The doctrine of creation, in a word, involves both a great “yes” and a great “no” to the universe.

Now there is a behavioral concomitant to the anti-idolatry principle, and it is called detachment. Detachment is the refusal to make anything less than God the organizing principle or center of one’s life.

Anthony de Mello looked at it from the other side and said “an attachment is anything in this world—including your own life—that you are convinced you cannot live without.” Even as we reverence everything that God has made, we must let go of everything that God has made, precisely for the sake of God.

Besides, he says, (and cites Father Andrew Greeley to do so) “The priest is fascinating and that a large part of the fascination comes from celibacy. The compelling quality of the priest is not a matter of superficial celebrity or charm. It is something much stranger, deeper, more mystical. It is the fascination for another world.”

[NYer]

Catholic ping!

[AliVeritas]

Must I pull out the scriptures and church fathers?

OT: Ping out to this poll/CNN

Should Obama receive honorary degree from Notre Dame

http://www.cnn.com/

[wombtotomb]

I don’t know why this is so hard for folks to understand. The priesthood, like marriage, is a vocation. It is who a person is, not what they do. One cannot have 2 vocations, they are an either/or thing. A priest is married to the church, the flock are his children since he is acting in persona Christi. Marriage would be considered a form of poligamy, for lack of a better word.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I once read a different reason for chastity and celibacy.

People are commanded, in a way they cannot resist, to have sex with the idea of procreation. They are compelled to obey this commandment, which is essential for life to continue.

And while this command cannot be ignored, in a small number of people, it can be redirected to spiritual goals. But make no mistake, it is a one or the other proposition.

As most of us can attest, the strength of this command is overwhelming, so you can imagine, if it is redirected, to what great purposes it can be put. And this is the rationale for chastity and celibacy among priests, monks and nuns.

It does not just preserve their strength, but gives them greater strength than those who have sex and make children. As such, this is the key to their purpose. This is what makes them liaisons between heaven and Earth.