Equalness in Vocations?

[Philippe]

I was talking to some friends and they were telling me that Priesthood is a higher calling then the married life and that married life is a greater calling then the single life. I thought that they were all equal and that not one is greater then the other. Is there anywhere that states the truth about this or any insite? It would be greatly appreciated.

[Apotheoun]

It is a dogma [i]de fide credenda[/i] that virginity and celibacy are a higher calling than marriage. As the Council of Trent declared, "If any one says, that the marriage state is to be placed above the state of virginity, or of celibacy, and that it is not better and more blessed to remain in virginity, or in celibacy, than to be united in matrimony; let him be anathema." [Council of Trent, canon 10, [u]On the Sacrament of Matrimony[/u]] This teaching was confirmed by Pope Pius XII in his encyclical letter [u]Sacra Virginitas[/u], where he said that, "the excellence of virginity and of celibacy and of their superiority over the married state was, as We have already said, revealed by our Divine Redeemer and by the Apostle of the Gentiles; so too, it was solemnly defined as a dogma of divine faith by the Holy Council of Trent, and explained in the same way by all the Holy Fathers and Doctors of the Church." [Pope Pius XII, [u]Sacra Virginitas[/u], no. 32] Thus, virginity and celibacy for the sake of the kingdom of God are more excellent than marriage, but marriage is nonetheless a holy vocation as well.