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Michael Coren: There is no compelling biblical reason why priests should be celibate. To ordain married men today would only do good.
Reverend Michael Coren ordained in the Anglican Church of Canada
In a decision that disappointed and thrilled roughly equal measures, Pope Francis ruled that married men still cannot be ordained Roman Catholic priests.
The background is that there is a shortage of clergy, especially in some parts of the world, and particularly in the Amazon region. Last year, a synod or conference of 184 bishops gathered at the Vatican argued that married men, preferably older men, should be ordained where there was a pressing need. Priests are vital in the Catholic Church, because beyond their pastoral and missionary work, they are also the only people qualified to consecrate the Host, the sacrament which is considered to be the body and blood of Jesus and to the Lord. epicenter of ecclesial worship. As a result, 85% of Amazonian villages cannot celebrate Mass.
The synod’s proposal has been condemned by more conservative voices as a first step in enabling widespread acceptance of married clergy – perish the thought! – and a “slippery slope” to God knows what.
Progressives and realists were more optimistic, but the recommendation needed papal confirmation if it was to go ahead. This was not to be the case, and in the same statement of rejection, Francis also said no to women deacons. The diaconate is either transitional (a halfway house before full priesthood ordination) or permanent (where men perform some but not all of the functions of a priest but do not seek to enter the priesthood). There are married deacons, but they must be men.
So it’s business as usual, from a pontiff who is splendid on many issues but still firmly conservative on others. The point is, there is no compelling theological or Biblical reason why priests should be celibate, and the Roman Catholic Church did not always demand it.
READ MORE: Confessions of a failing Catholic
In the past, celibacy was necessary for monks, but not for priests. Even when celibacy was ordained, it was not always enforced. Today, the small number of married Anglican clergy who convert in Rome are accepted, and there are entire Catholic rites, Ukrainian for example, where marriage is encouraged and children abound. Chosen celibacy is generally respected in non-Catholic churches, but it is the insistence that is problematic for so many.
The Catholic Church maintains that celibacy allows priests to devote their entire life to their flock, to be able to move to another parish or city at any time, to stand with the poor and marginalized, and to live a daily sacrifice. For some members of the clergy, this is probably true. However, forced celibacy also gives the church full control over its clergy, means priests can be paid less, and allows the church to own their home.
There is more. Although this was not an intended consequence, an all-male and ostensibly celibate clergy have created a class of clerics entirely separate from those they serve. It established an elite of different, removed women from any semblance of influence, and led to seeing sexuality and sex as something distant or even ungodly.
The other reality is that a large number of Catholic clergy are homosexual, with Father Donald Cozzens in his book, The Changing Face of the Priesthood, arguing perhaps up to 58 percent. Many are single, some are not. A number of the best priests I have met – Catholics and Anglicans – were gay, and their sexuality shouldn’t be relevant. The truth, however, is that the priesthood has traditionally attracted gay men because in a homophobic society it was one of the few places they could hide. Rome is well aware of this and afraid that if marriage were allowed then people would wonder why so few clergymen were enjoying their newfound freedom.
The enforced celibacy, obscurity and fear that occurs when broken, also produces a culture of denial, allowing sinister forces to hide under this sordid cloak. This is part of the reason the sex abuse scandal was so prevalent in the Catholic Church and took so long to expose. While abuse is tragically inevitable in any institution where there is a power dynamic, I am convinced that if married men, women and family life were at the heart of the priesthood, it could never have been so prolonged and commmon.
Ordaining older married men in a remote region would only have done good, but deep down it was not the Amazon at all. It was Rome that refused to let the door crack open, for once that happened it would have been obvious that forced celibacy was a digression, sometimes dangerous, and that other changes such as women priests , a more democratic church, and less central dominance were necessary and beneficial. Change will come, but unfortunately not with this papacy.
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