Evangelizing at Home

My parents joined Mira and I for coffee and cake tonight. Our conversation snaked its way into the pit when Monsignor Clark came up. After we all shared our frustration with the latest scandal, my father, God bless him, began lumbering toward his usual solution to such problems.

"Sometimes, it's like The Catholic Church forces people into a corner," He said, "I really think it's tough to expect these guys to live celibate. I really think that they should allow these guys to marry."

We had a civil but passionate discussion about married priests. I see the issue this way: The priesthood has celibacy as a requirement. It's a vow that a man makes when becomes ordained, much as a man that marries makes a vow to exclusively love his wife. It's a choice. Whether the Church chooses to change the discipline of Holy Orders (which they have the authority to do) or not is beside the point. The fact is that, right now, the Church--with few exceptions--demands that priests make a vow of celibacy. Those that believe they're called to the priesthood understand that celibacy is a part of the priesthood. That means they're willing to make that vow. If they're not, then they may not have that call.

Does a man that wants to marry really and truly love his financee and want to become her husband, but he just can't live a monogamous life with her beloved? Of course not! In a similar way, a priest is called to live celibately, to express his sexuality through his total commitment to God through service to God's people. If he decides to have a sexual relationship, then he compromises his commitment as much as a married man who has an extramarital affair does.

My testimony gives my blushing bride a pain in her chest. She feels very strongly that human sexuality is such a powerful part of our humanity that we must express it--in marriage, of course! She truly can't understand why the Church insists that men give up their expression of sexuality with a woman simply because they truly desire to be a priest.

Now, understand: my blushing bride has a troubled history with the institutional Church, particularly in her family village in Portugal. Let's just say that her village priest did not particularly represent Christ well. He did not sexually abuse anyone or go to any of those extremes. He did, however, live quite like a feudal Lord of the Manor, and his pastoral ministry left much to be desired! Therefore, she has had trouble seeing Christ through his Church. This may contribute to her difficulty in accepting celibacy as a part of a priest's ministry.

She's not alone; I'd say many share her lack of comprehension. "This is hard teaching; who can accept it?" (Jn 6:60, paraphrased) Nevertheless, the teaching of the Church regarding priesthood makes sense. It's not a simple understanding, but like everything else in the Church, it's one that's centered on Christ. I'll explore this in greater detail tomorrow.