Calibacy For Priests - Vatican Secretary Of State

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

married laity all take a vow of chastity when married in the Church

 

 

I had the terms celibacy and chastity in a mix. Sorry Jamie, please forgive. :)

[Magdalena]

I did not read all of the posts in this thread...there's so many of them!  I just thought I would add my 2 cents...well, in today's economy, I guess I'll have to add my $2.00...

 

I have always believed that the priest is an "Alter Christus"...another Christ.  Jesus never married and we tend to forget that when discussing topics such as priestly celibacy and chastity.  Our Blessed Mother and Holy St. Joseph remained celibate and chaste their whole married lives.  We seem to forget that as well.  As a Benedictine sister, I can attest to living a celibate and chaste life...and it isn't always easy, but it is always beautiful.  Our society has become so corrupted and saturated nowadays with sensual enticements, even to our children, that we have forgotten the virtue of purity--and its beauty.  We have forgotten to teach that to our children. 

 

Allowing secular priests to marry will never resolve the problems that exist in the priesthood.  Celibacy and purity have been a struggle for centuries and will continue to do so until the Second Coming.  Allowing priests to marry will not resolve the problem of homosexual priests or pedophile priests.  And what happens when the priest and his wife want a divorce?  Don't think it will happen?  Think again.  Over 50% of Catholic marriages end in divorce.  Changing the celibacy rule will do nothing more than complicate an already complicated and difficult situation.  What we all need, including priests, religious and lay people, is to pray more, practice mortifications daily--maybe even hourly--turn off the TV and computers--read the lives of the saints--and frequent the sacraments daily--especially the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and regular confession. 

 

Maybe I'm being too idealistic, but again, we're all supposed to try to imitate our Lord and His Blessed Mother.  It's not easy, but it was never meant to be easy.  That doesn't come until after we breathe our last.

[StMichael]

Was not Peter asked to leave it all? Did he not leave it all?

 

Matthew 19:27

 

"Then Peter said to him in reply, “We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?”

 

In the time you reference, it was obviously enough of an issue for the Church to rethink this and implement celibacy.

 

And a current issue, that the Vatican (under Benedict XVI) had to address was that men were becoming Priests to escape poverty, especially in 3rd world nations.

 

My largest issue is that Pope Francis needs to better make himself clear, in both actions and words, as far too much fodder is being fed to those only interested in the destruction of the Church or marginalizing it. 

 

I would disagree since saint peter had a wife and I dont think you would say he didnt fullfuill his duties to the fullist. Also many priests in the past were married before the discipline was put in place and I doubt your saying those priest, some of them saints did not fullfill their duties to the fullist.

 

[KnightofChrist]

Holy Scripture also states that Peter lived with his mother in law, or perhaps his mother in law lived with him, but it makes no mention of Peter's wife. It seems unlikely that if his wife was alive when only her mother would be mentioned and not herself. While it could be possible it is unlikely she was still alive by the time Peter became an Apostle.

Edited September 18, 2013 by KnightofChrist

[Ice_nine]

Really...? I'm currently doing my practicum in clinical psychology, and fruedian psychoanalysis is completely discredited. It's support by nothing save anecdotes from Freud and some of his contemporaries. If we attempted to understand and treat people with that sort of dated theory the whole field would be in shambles.

 

You know once a father brought his child to Freud with a clear cut case of association. He had a horrible experience with a horse as a child and that manifested in serious fears in his adolescence. Freud dismissed the case as a subconscious fear his father was going to castrate him?

 

Really..? 

 

haha I'm majoring in psych as a lowly undergrad and I think I fall in the middle of the "was Freud was a genius or a madman," and you two seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. You can surely see how he laid the groundwork for psychotherapy and how his ideas are still influential. And also to say psychoanalysis was totally fruitless is not an accurate statement either.

 

But yeah I've read the case study you're talking about and that's jacked up. I'll agree there. His psychosexual stuff was creepy as hell and way off the mark I think.

[Ice_nine]

Also I vote for keeping the celibacy requirement for now, at least.

[havok579257]

Holy Scripture also states that Peter lived with his mother in law, or perhaps his mother in law lived with him, but it makes no mention of Peter's wife. It seems unlikely that if his wife was alive when only her mother would be mentioned and not herself. While it could be possible it is unlikely she was still alive by the time Peter became an Apostle.

 

 

doesn't the story go that Peter saw his wife lead away to be executed for their faith?

[Apotheoun]

doesn't the story go that Peter saw his wife lead away to be executed for their faith?

I do not remember that episode from the Acts of Peter, but it could be in some other text. I do know that his wife and daughter (who was paralyzed) are mentioned in the book.