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	Celibacy Redux, Part II Whispered in the Sacristy July 6, 2007 http://presterthomas.typepad.com/whispered_in_the_sacristy/2007/07/celibacy-redu-1.html Let's begin by saying that although there is historical precedence for celibacy as a choice in early Christian ministry, evidenced by the scriptural-historical account of the lives of both Jesus and St. Paul, it was clearly not the general practice of many of the Apostles as evidenced by St. Paul's own words in First Corinthians: "My defense against those who would pass judgment on me is this. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a Christian wife, as do the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? Or is it only myself and Barnabas who do not have the right not to work?" [1 Corinthians, 9:3-6] We must not be confused into thinking of priestly celibacy as either dogma or doctrine of the Catholic Church. It is not a central and irreformable part of the faith, handed down from Jesus and the apostles, but rather a discipline established by the Church. For the better part of the first thousand years of the Church, although the practice of celibacy was encouraged, it was not a blanket Christian policy. As early as 306 AD, at the Council of Elvira, in Spain, celibacy was encouraged for priests and bishops as a greater virtue. In 401 AD St. Augustine wrote, "Nothing is so powerful in drawing the spirit of a man downwards as the caresses of a woman." It is a sad statement of fact that after a highly profligate youth ("Lord give me chastity," he wrote, "but not yet.",) on his baptism St. Augustine became, although truly one of the great theologians in the history of the Church, a crusader against the overt sexuality of his age. In many ways Augustine ushered in a Victorian-style Puritanism from which the Church has not yet recovered. While it is true that by the Sixth Century there was a concern that married priests would pass on Church property to their children, it was another six hundred years before celibacy was made absolutely mandatory. Concubinage and secret marriages have continued for the past eight hundred years, but that attests to the human weakness of many men, and not the invalidity or value of the practice. [Anecdotally, it has been rumored that in Brazil today, many priests are warned to remove wives and children from their residences in advance of a Bishop's visit, but again the failure of some does not mean that the practice is wrong.] There are those who have suggested that anyone who desires to be celibate may be showing a deeper emotional issue that needs to be dealt with, that human beings were not created to be celibate. Some have suggested that only someone quite immature would want to exclude one of the most powerful ways of sharing loving intimacy; that someone who chooses celibacy must be suffering from a lack of self-esteem, performance anxiety, or religious beliefs based on shame, denial and fear of intimacy. That brings us back to the quote I used in Part I: "We commonly speak of the sex 'drive', as if it, like hunger, must be satisfied, or a person will die. Yet there is no evidence that celibacy is in any way damaging to one's health, and it is clear that many celibates lead long, happy lives. Celibacy should be recognized as a valid alternative sexual lifestyle, although probably not everyone is suited to it." -J. S. Hyde, Understanding Human Sexuality, 1986 It is a growing concept in today's society that if something is too difficult there must be something wrong with it. If we don't like the promises made in marriage, we get a divorce. If life is too difficult, we use drugs get us up and put us down, and ultimately if nothing works we turn to Final Exit [Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying, 1991, by Derek Humphry,] for easy and painless ways to escape life altogether. I am tired of hearing people who have somehow heard the Gospel and come away with the idea that salvation guarantees happiness in this life, those who somehow feel that the idea of carrying crosses was a suggestion and not a requirement. It's supposed to be hard to be a good Christian, and Vocations, such as marriage, parenthood and the priesthood, are supposed to be hard work, and trying to be all three at the same time means something is going to suffer. Next column will suggest the ultimate value, in spite of its difficulty, of celibacy. At the same time I will suggest that the Church should follow the ancient practice of the Orthodox Christian Churches , and allow married clergy, while advocating the practical and virtuous nature of celibacy.
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