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Catholicism and celibacy
By Oputa Jude, C. Abuja.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions
of any church, so observed Swami Vivekananda. But most churches
lack certain code of ethics among its clergy that ought to
be the hallmark of its foundation. Both matrimony and celibacy
are great, but celibacy is more of greater perfection when
it comes to the sphere of clergy. What is celibacy, one may
ask? The state of being unmarried, with abstinence from sexual
activity.
Most people see celibacy under Roman Catholic Church as one
of the forces that drive the church. Catholicism has endured
from the biblical Peter to the present and has suffered virulent
and sinister attack from different organizations and all sorts
of individuals overtly and covertly within and outside its
domain and still it remains as strong as the rock of Gibraltar.
The recent news story that some catholic priests have opted
for wife will not destroy its (catholic) foundation either.
My advice to the recanting priest is to step aside as priest
for other priests that can withstand the temptation of materialism
and canal desire to continue doing God’s work. They
can also join the protestant evangelical Christians as pastors
or better still form their own churches (which is not crime)
rather than to be within the catholic fold and formant rash
behavious.
To be monk or run is not by compulsion. Under the Western
and Eastern churches, celibacy has been there from time immemorial.
Under the Western/Latin Rite, celibacy is required of all
clergy. But it is the Eastern Church that clergy are permitted
to marry before ordination and it is also the same Eastern
Church; that its bishops are selected from among the unmarried
priests. The question is: why selecting the bishops, a superior
hierarchy from among the unmarried clergy?
Those who made the celibacy laws for the clergy are not fools.
They are spiritual and intellectual deep thinkers that meant
good for our dangerous world. The principles upon which the
laws of celibacy are anchored are that (i) a celibate Clergy
may serve God with more freedom and with an undivided heart.
(ii) that being called to serve Jesus Christ, they may embrace
the holier life of self-restraint.
If what motivates those asking for priests to marry is because
of satisfaction of sexual urge, bearing of children or companionship,
then, this writer’s question to them is what of priests
in Anglican Communion who enjoys these privileges and yet
go further propagating and demanding for gay marriage?
Again, one may ask how can a clergy in union of matrimony
embrace the holier life of self-restraint with children and
hangers on and yet serve God with more freedom and with an
undivided heart, be compared with a priest under the vow of
celibacy, who tends to be selfless in his service to god and
humanity? The history of all the Saints shows that most of
them are celibate.
From the above, these “one-man” churches often
turn to sex communes and preach apocalypse, remember Charles
Manson (Satan Slaves), Reverend Jim Jones of Jonestown and
David koresh of the Brand Davidian who broke away from Seventh
Day Adventist, all these characters among others are by products
of unorganized religion that lack somewhat puritanical code
of ethics which Catholicism has endeavored to uphold since
its origin.
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