i NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHY PRIESTS HAD TO BE CELIBATE
Tradition.
Tradition. From the earliest times, Christianity was always more ascetic than the strain of Judaism that evolved into orthodox Judaism after the Destruction of the Temple. Virginity was prized above marriage. Unlike Judaism, which stopped proselytizing by the 2nd Century, Christianity increased its numbers mainly by conversion. And until the 3rd century, Christianity were still much excited by the expected Return of the Lord. The that was relayed, many Christians turned away from ordinary pursuits and in the late 3rd Century, the monastic movement began. The idea of living the same kind of life that Our Lord did during his ministry, and which was copied by the Apostles, had always been attractive. Now it became the beau ideal of the Christian life, the way to sanctity For more than 1000 years it remained that way, until the Reformation which had a very different view, one reflecting a rejection of monasticism. The monk was no longer the ideal Christian, but rather the scholar of the Bible, and the layman. The Protestant minister is not a priest but simply a layman appointed by a congregation to perform a certain function, something like a eucharistic minister/lector/cantor/business manager in a Catholic Church.
Why?
Because when the telephone rings at 3am asking for the priest to come over and give last rites, he doesn’t have to worry about waking his family up or if he’ll be back to drive his children to school.
Because he doesn’t have to think about his family when he is asked to go to another parish.
Because he doesn’t have to come home at 6pm to have dinner and then help his children with homework.
Because it’s not a job, it’s a vocation.
Because his sacrifice is an outward sign of his devotion to God and to God’s people.
Because he not a father to just his family, he’s the father to us all.
Because the church has lost a lot of its way and they are mechanically applying what Jesus was. Many of the apostles had families , I am sure. What that rule has done is devastate the church by attracting many homosexuals to the priesthood.
Has the Time Come to Consider Making Celibacy Truly Optional In the Western Church?
Catholic Scandals: A Crisis for Celibacy?
Celibacy of the priesthood is a church strength, not a liability
Celibacy s history of power and money
Pope: Priests Must Stay Celibate
Giving Thanks for the Good Shepherds ( A Defense of Priestly Celibacy)
Don't end celibacy for priests
The celibate superhero
Priestly Celibacy And Its Roots In Christ
How to Refute Arguments Against Priestly Celibacy
Priestly Celibacy Reflects Who - and Whose - We Are[Father George W.Rutler]
Celibacy
Tracing the Glorious Origins of Celibacy
God’s call to celibacy for the sake of His Kingdom - by Card. George
Vatican Says Celibacy Rule Nonnegotiable
Bishop Attacks Move to End Celibacy
A response to Fr. Joseph Wilson's defense of mandatory celibacy
The gift of Priestly celibacy as a sign of the charity of Christ, by Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Archbishop Dolan:"We Need to Be Renewing Our Pledge to Celibacy, Not Questioning It"
Celibacy is gift cherished by church
Celibacy Will Save the Priesthood
Celibacy Defended by EWTN's Fr. Levis
Call To Action: Dump Celibacy
The (Catholic) Church Has Always Prospered When Celibacy Is Honored
John Paul II Hails "Inestimable Value" of Priestly Celibacy
For Priests, Celibacy Is Not the Problem
Fr. Shannon Collins Discusses Celibacy
5 Arguments Against (Catholic) Priestly Celibacy and How to Refute Them
Why A Married Priesthood Won't Remedy the Priest Shortage
New Vatican Document on Homosexuality and the Priesthood Coming Before Fall 2005
Catholic priests demand the right to marry
Catholic priests urge Church to reconsider celibacy rules
Alternative Priests´ Council Hits Back on Mandatory Celibacy
Married Priests? The English Experience
Saying Yes to God: a Look into Vocations
New Vatican Document to Eliminate 1961 Papal Ban on Ordaining Homosexuals
Saying Yes to God: a Look into Vocations
Is it time to ordain married men to the Catholic priesthood?
40% of Scots priests want end to celibacy
A small, sturdy band of 'John Paul priests'(JPII legacy of conservative priests)
Yes, Gay Men Should Be Ordained
Cardinal says Priests will marry
Fathers, Husbands and Rebels: Married Priests
An Unneeded Headache (Vatican document on [NOT] admitting homosexual to the priesthood)
More (Priestly) Celibacy, Not Less
Vatican Prepares Draft Directives Against Admitting Gays as Priests
From Anglican to married Catholic priest
Spain gets first married priest
Spain (R) Catholic Church ordains first married priest
The Catholic Church - East-West Difference Over Priestly Celibacy
ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF SCRANTON TO RECEIVE FIRST ECUSA PRIEST
Defending Chastity in the Priesthood
Ordination of married men is raised at Vatican synod
Patriarch of Venice deemphasizes ordination of married men to the priesthood
Cardinal Pell: Ending Celibacy Rule Would Be a Blunder
Priest shortage stems from crisis of faith, ignorance of the infinite, not celibacy, say Bishops [at Synod]
Vatican synod rules out married priests (for Latin Church)
Synod Affirms Priestly Celibacy
Married Priests Aren’t the Answer (a seminarian states his view)
5 Arguments Against Priestly Celibacy and How to Refute Them
(Catholic) Church makes a clear distinction between chastity and celibacy, says Priest
Why Not Married Priests? The Case for Clerical Celibacy
The biblical foundation of priestly celibacy
Married, ex-Episcopalian ordained a Catholic priest in California
Getting It Right:The Foundation of Friendship (What can a celibate priest really teach us about love
Another One Takes the Plunge [swims the Tiber]
Following the Signs (to a priestly vocation)
That sneaky desperate Catholic Church is at it again
Long Journey to Rome (Former Southern Baptist Pastor Now a Traveling Crusader for Catholic Church)
New, stricter Priestly Formation Program issued for U.S. Catholic seminaries
Ex-Lutheran bishop found Catholic rock: Joseph Jacobson to be ordained Catholic priest by Christmas
Jesuit defends priestly celibacy (a lengthy but worthy read)
The Gift: A Married Priest Looks at Celiba[cy]
Vatican Reaffirms Celibacy for Priests
Pope, Curia Aides Reaffirm Value of Priestly Celibacy (detailed Vatican response)
Vatican Said (Again!) Not Revising Celibacy Rule
On Priests, Marriage and the Sacraments
Should Catholic priests have the right to marry?
Married Priests Back Celibacy (Part 1 of 2)
Messori: Married priests no remedy for “vocations crisis”
Why Celibacy? [Catholic Caucus]
Married man considers turn as Catholic priest
The Nature of Priestly Ordination: Theological Background and Some Present Concerns
Ukrainian cardinal says married men not answer to vocations crisis
Angelo Roncalli (Pope John XXIII) and Priestly Celibacy
Married man considers turn as Catholic priest
Roman Catholic Priests the Case For:
Priestly Celibacy: Yes, it is Apostolic [Ecumenical]
Why Can't (Roman) Catholic Priests Get Married?
Married [converts] priests inspire flock
Bad Examples Do Not Invalidate The Value of Priestly Celibacy, Says Bishop
TENDENCY FOR PRIESTS IS TOWARD CELIBACY, SAYS EGYPTIAN BISHOP
The Jewel of Celibacy
Celibacy and the Priesthood
It's certainly not a requirement to serve in the NT church. Marriage never disqualified men from serving.
As a matter of fact, Peter was married.
1 Timothy 3
1The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
8 Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. 9They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. 11 Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. 12Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. 13For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
Titus 1:5-9 5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.