A message from Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J.

Ignatius Press ^ | Apr.27, 2002 | Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J.

[history_matters]

 

A message from Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J., Publisher, Ignatius Press.

In the papers, on the talk shows, the mantra is repeated: the cure for the present scandals is a married clergy. Of course, celibacy has nothing to do with these scandals: 1) Look at the Anglican church, which may soon be bankrupt in western Canada because of sex abuse lawsuits. 2) The majority of reported cased are of homosexual relations with young boys, not pedophilia; the perpetrators wouldn't be marrying women even if they had the chance. (And what kind of woman would marry these twisted souls?)

And, of course, all the discredited myths about the discipline of celibacy in the Catholic Church are trotted out.

For example:

• Celibacy wasn't imposed in the Church until the 6th (or 9th, or 10th) century.
  
  
• The motive for imposing celibacy was to prevent Church property from being inherited by the children of the clergy.

The truth is that the Church's obligation of celibacy goes back to the apostles in an *unbroken* line. And the motivation for celibacy was the closer following of Jesus Christ, who required his apostles to leave wife and family, to become "eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom". But don't take my word for it. Ignatius Press has published a number of books which demolish the myths and provide compelling evidence for this unbroken tradition, the jewel of the Catholic priesthood:

By the way:

1. If you want to follow these and other controversies, get the inside information, and the unvarnished truth, you'll want to subscribe to Catholic World Report.
   
   The Gay Priest Problem - Check out this special preview article from our upcoming May issue: Fr. Paul Shaughnessy's hard-hitting article on the Gay Priest Problem. Find out how problems in the Church have led to the current situation--and how we can prevent more abuse from happening.

Books on Celibacy and Related Issues Published by Ignatius Press:

Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy Christian Cochini, S.J. This is the definitive scholarly statement on the discipline of priestly celibacy in the Church East and West. What Cochini shows through patristic sources and conciliar documentation is that from the beginning of the Church, although married men could be priests, they were required to vow to celibacy before ordination, meaning they intended to live a life of continence. He provides extensive documentation, a bibliography and an index.

	The Case for Clerical Celibacy Cardinal Alfons Stickler In order to arrive at a correct understanding of the much discussed topic of clerical celibacy, this book clarifies the pertinent facts and the discipline found within the Church from its beginnings until the present time, and explores the theological reasons for celibacy. Cardinal Stickler begins with a discussion of the relevant sources and current scholarship to support his conclusions.

NEW - Priesthood and Diaconate Gerhard Ludwig Muller With the apostolic letter of Pope John Paul II, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, the Magisterium of the Catholic Church has presented the tradition of conferring Holy Orders on men only as an expression of divine revelation and hence as a doctrine that binds in faith. This makes clear that the Church's practice in this regard cannot be interpreted as a concession to the customs of an age, for instance to a discrimination against women on sociological grounds. The Church's teaching is founded, rather, upon a theology of the sexes, which is based on the relationship of man and woman originating in creation itself. This relationship is sanctified to the utmost in the Sacrament of Matrimony, as the concrete symbol of God's love for mankind.

	Celibacy in the Early Church Stefan Heid Heid presents a penetrating and wide-ranging study of the historical data from the early Church on the topics of celibacy and clerical continence. He gives a brief review of recent literature, and then begins his study with the New Testament and follows it all the way to Justinian and the Council in Trullo in 690 it the East and the fifth century popes in the West. He thoroughly examines the writings of the Bible, the early church councils, saints and theologians like Jerome, Augustine, Clement, Tertullian, John Chrystostom, Cyril and Gregory Nazianzen. He has gathered formidable data with conclusive arguments regarding obligatory continence in the early Church.

Women in the Priesthood? Dr. Manfred Hauke This book should become the standard reference in the debate about women's ordination. The author cites copiously from American as well as European sources and presents the feminist position in the words and categories of the leading feminist authors. But, for the first time, the whole question is placed in the comprehensive context of anthropology, biology, psychology, philosophy, and theology. You will find a balanced presentation of the profound consistency of the Catholic Church's teaching and the practice concerning the role of women in the Church and in society. Written in a scholarly, yet very readable manner.

	Deaconesses Aime Georges Martimort Since the 17th century the history of deaconesses in the Church has been the subject of numerous monographs. What is most evident about the history of deaconesses, however, is how complex the whole subject is. In this exhaustive and thoroughly researched work, Martimort presents a very readable analysis that has become the standard study of the role of women deaconesses in the early Church. He presents in as complete and objective fashion as possible the history, who and what these deaconesses were and what their functions were.

Truth About Homosexuality Fr. John Harvey This book addresses the complex moral and pastoral questions involved in both homosexual orientation and activity, including an analysis of lifestyles in accord with the Christian Gospel, and those running counter to the Christian perception. Fr. Harvey, a pioneer in the pastoral care of homosexual persons through his organization Courage, gives a comprehensive view of the issues involved in homosexuality.

 

 

[saradippity]

I just finished reading a book,The Broken Cross, which I would not recommend due to the many factual errors in addition to an overeliance on presenting fantasy as fact.Nonetheless,it did call to mind the giddy and delirious celebration of the new church the "enemy" thought they had brought into being after Vat II. They were sure that they had infiltrated so far into the Catholic Church that they had,in effect,destroyed it.

So much of what the "literati" were celebrating was unknown to the faithful Catholics in the hinterlands,most good Catholics didn't know what to think. The situation during the Papacy of Paul was abominable and it certainly has had a great influence on the Church today. Clearly,if we can get through this present crisis we will have survived yet another attack on the Church Christ established on earth in order to bring as many as possible back to the Father.

In the 70's,when so many of these abuses took place many in high places,who had orchestrated an ignominioous end to the Church which so impeded their worldly agenda,would not hear the complaints,pleas and concerns of worried clergy and lay people.They would not hear the lament of the faithful because they themselves had turned into the narcissistic,greedy,deceitful little sexual animals they intended to turn all the faithful into with their false doctrines and topsy-turvey world.So its not surprising that these abusers were shuffled around many high in the hierarchy were of the same mind and nature as they were.As their older protectors died off,new,better leaders were often unaware of some of their "legacies" and other "legacies"had protectors elsewhere. Additionally those people were not the least bit interested in vocations to the priesthood of men called by God,they preferred oppurtunists and homosexuals and enlightened,self-interested men.Nevertheless,God in His providence,evidentally was able to get enough good men in to prevent the takeover the "enemy"planned. I think what we are seeing is a frenzied attack by a group of people who now realize that the effects of their plot did not materialize as successfully as they had hoped and are now in their death throes.

We must pray for the Church and the Pope and the Magisterium in union with him and pray that the Holy Spirit help us to know the mind of the Church,that Christ promised to be with until the end.

Don't be confused,He is with us but we must pray and we will know. All of the "Princes" are not corrupt but the "enemy" will hit the hardest on those who are good. We also need to keep writing to the good ones,giving them support and the bad ones,reminding them of their errors. It is also important to write letters to publications with good information because so many Catholics don't have a clue about what the Church teaches. And as Cardinal George so eloquently put it the answer is "fidelity,fidelity,fidelity" to Church doctrine and teaching. And while I'm at it we should demand that our clergy be as incorrupt as is humanly possible and we each probably need to look at our own lives and "fidelity "to Church teaching and doctrine. If we had been looking we wouldn't have had the succession of politicians we have had in political offeces and this country would be light years ahead of where it is,given all we have been blessed with.

Anyway,history matters,keep the Faith. I think all will soon be well in the Church but once we get the foundation shored up,we should get real worried about the world,it's a mess.

[ventana]

You have given great information here. It's no small thing to come onto these threads and find posters such as yourself bearing witness to helpful insights; a comfort in a troubling time. V's wife.

[history_matters]

COPPER SUNDAY ALERT!

[ThomasMore]

Hi eastsider,
I'll have to get that book. Sounds interesting. I've read "Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy" and, although it shows that celibacy has been with us since apostolic times, it does not prove that it was exclusive. Pretty good read nonetheless.

God Bless,
TM

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

What does Heid have to say about the discipline of lex continentiae required of the clergy and does he mention the establishment of seminaries and their effect on the cessation of recruiting priests from amongst married men?

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Speaking of Peter and his wife, have you ever read Clement of Alexandrias "Stromata" Book VII Chapter XI and what Peter had to say about being married?

They say, accordingly, that the blessed Peter, on seeing his wife led to death, rejoiced on account of her call and conveyance home, and called very encouragingly and comfortingly, addressing her by name, "Remember thou the Lord." Such was the marriage of the blessed and their perfect disposition towards those dearest to them.

Thus also the apostle says, "that he who marries should be as though he married not," and deem his marriage free of inordinate affection, and inseparable from love to the Lord; to which the true husband exhorted his wife to cling on her departure out of this life to the Lord.

[saradippity]

I was talking to someone this moring,who said that it was Father Neuhaus that said "fidelity,fidelity,fidelity".Does anyone know who did say it? No matter who said it,it is true. Fidelity to Church teaching and doctrine is the first step to cleansing the Church.

[eastsider]

That at least some of the apostles were married is a rebuttable presumption shared by a majority of contemporary scholars, including those like Fr. Fessio who advocate obligatory clerical celibacy (“And the motivation for celibacy was the closer following of Jesus Christ, who required his apostles to leave wife and family ...”). Here’s another excerpt from Heid’s book:

Those in the immediate circle of Jesus’ followers lived without their wives or else in the unmarried state.[5] Jesus gathered about himself numerous disciples who accompanied him on his journeys.[6] Among them were those who were unmarried when they encountered him and who as his followers no longer intended to marry. Others, Peter for instance, gave up their family life and had now entered fully into the company of Jesus.[7] They had left not only their wives (Lk 18:29; cf. 14:26),[8] but also their extended family: house, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children, lands.[9] Then too, they were able to follow after Jesus precisely because their wives and children would be cared for, even without them, by the extended family unit. Therefore they were not abandoning a nuclear family to an uncertain fate. Society then took full responsibility for future generations, however radical the circumstances may have been.[10]

[5] E. Schillebeeckx, Der Amtszolibat: Eine Kritsche Besinnung (Dusseldorf, 1967), 17f.

[6] G. TheiBsen, Soziologie der Jesusbewegung: Ein Beitrag zur Entstehungsgeschichte des Urchristentums [Sociology of the Jesus-movement: A contribution to the history of Christianty’s origins] (Munich, 1977), 14-21.

[7] J. Blinzler, “‘Zur Ehe unfalug ...’ Auglegung von Mt 19,12” [Incapable of marriage: An interpretation of Mt 19:12), in Gesammelte Aufsatze, vol. I, Aus der Welt und Umwelt des Neuen Testaments (Stuttgart, 1969), 20-40, esp. 30.

[8] This addition of the wife in Luke is a clarification of Matthew 19:29, which is completely justified as to both meaning and matter: Whoever leaves house and children automatically leaves his wife, too. Cf. H. Kruse, “Eheverzicht in Neuen Testament und in der Fruhkirche”, FKTh I (1985): 110.

[9] Cf. Mt 8:14: the house of Peter and his mother-in=law. Peter’s house is possibly mentioned at Mark 2:1 also; Cf. Gnilka, Jesus, 179; P. Brown, Die Keuschheit er Engel: Sexuelle Entsagung, Askese und Korperlichkeit am Anfang des Christentums (Munich and Vienna, 1991), 55-58.

[10] Thus, when Jesus called that man to follow him without first going to bury his father (Mt 8:21f.), the dead father did not simply remain unburied; there was, of course, the rest of the family who would carry out this pious duty.

Regarding the word wife in the Douay-Rheims translation of Mt19:29, although it appears in the Latin Vulgate, the word gunaika does not appear in Mt19:29 of the Greek New Testament. It does, however, appear in the parallel verse, Lk18:29, and at Lk14:26 (cf. material emphasized in bold, above].

[eastsider]

"rebuttable" should read "rebutable"

[eastsider]

The simplest way for me to answer to your question concerning the scope of Heid's Celibacy in the Early Church is to provide the subtitle -- "The Beginnings of a Discipline of Obligatory Continence for Clerics in East and West" -- and to repeat the review found above:

Heid presents a penetrating and wide-ranging study of the historical data from the early Church on the topics of celibacy and clerical continence. He gives a brief review of recent literature, and then begins his study with the New Testament and follows it all the way to Justinian and the Council in Trullo in 690 it the East and the fifth century popes in the West. He thoroughly examines the writings of the Bible, the early church councils, saints and theologians like Jerome, Augustine, Clement, Tertullian, John Chrystostom, Cyril and Gregory Nazianzen. He has gathered formidable data with conclusive arguments regarding obligatory continence in the early Church.

Heid does not advocate a position regarding obligatory celibacy or continence, but merely presents the available historical resources, offering his analysis of them and drawing conclusions. I recall nothing about the "establishment of seminaries and their effect on the cessation of recruiting priests from amongst married men" in the first 100 pages, covering the period up to Nicaea, which is my area of interest.

[Barrie]

hmm. this is a complicated topic, and not easy to untangle. so I have a few questions. I'm not catholic, so I can't speak for them, but from my religious upbringing, i came to understand that the concept of the celibate catholic priesthood was not only service to God, but discipline of self. Unfortunately, as others have pointed out, the church has had plenty of those who didn't serve God and weren't very self-disciplined. Every protestant denomonation has it's own who behave just as the priests of the catholic church. So it doesn't seem to make much difference if you're in a church that allows, or not, marriage. One of the problems is in the area of mental health and please, a pedophile and a gay are not the same thing. there is even a new term, for those priests involved with early aged teens (it's new to me, so i don't recall it). Perhaps there is a deeper issue, which i'd like to suggest: why not encourage more self-discipline? there is the discpline required here, to be civil and polite (and for me, a new comer, to see the notice above this box as a reminder, suggests that this discipline needs to be reminded here for some reason). there is the discipline of getting up in the morning and getting to work, whether you like it or not. there is the discipline of overcoming bad habits, even if it means getting professional help. there are many ways to develop self-discipline, true, including marriage. but i wouldn't want to see celibacy toss aside as path of self-discipline. this is one of those disciplines that requires a very strong willingness to understand yourself. introspective thought takes patience in our impatient world. Just a thought. thanks,

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Thank you.

[appleton14]

Homosexuality does not just go against Catholic teaching. If one reads the St. James, New International Version (NIV) or the Vulgate (Catholic) versions of the Bible, homosexual behavior is condemned by God. This is both in the Old and New Testament

The liberal press is trying to make this a "Catholic thing"--this is just not true.

[appleton14]

Jesus never asked or required his priests/apostles/disciples to be celibate. In fact, St. Peter was married as Jesus cured Peter's mother-in-law.

There are probably many men out there who would make good priests, but celibacy is a strong and unrealistic burden. This is a man-made law, not God-made. If anyone is Catholic out there, remember when we could not eat meat on Friday? I can't remember if that was a mortal or venial sin--but now it's okay.

God is shaking up the Catholic Church and that's very good.

[RobbyS]

Homosexuality has been condemned by Christians since the beginning. In this we followed the Jews, who regarded this practice as pagan. I think that pagan temples had both male and female prostitutes.

[RobbyS]

Married life is also a burden for clergymen. In the Greek Church, which allows married men to become priests, only 30% of the clergy are married. After all, you are asking the wife and children to share his life of genteel poverty.