| John Monaco, a 16 year old from Naugatuck, CT (US), who plans on becoming a Roman Catholic priest has this to say concerning celibacy and the priesthood. "The way it is today should be the way it is tomorrow. Many arguments against celibacy for the priesthood are illogical. Supporters of allowing Catholic priests to marry say "By doing that, you're gonna get more priests!" However, the fact still remains that if you are going to become a priest, it's because it's a calling. You cannot force a vocation upon children of a priest, because it wouldn't be an honest discernment. As a 16 year old, I firmly and whole-heartedly believe that priests should remain celibate. The purpose of remaining celibate is to make a sacrifice for God, and devote your entire life to Him. By allowing priests to get married, you would also have to make a committment to a family, and you wouldn't be sacrificing human/human intimate love. For those who state that "Celibacy is preventing potential-priests from answering their call, we're in a shortage," etc., if they truly want to become a Catholic priest, they will remain celibate and look at celibacy as a gift, not a burden. Read Pope Paul VI’s beautiful encyclical Sacerdotalis Caelibatus (Celibacy of the Priest). No one is required to take a vow of celibacy; those who do, do so voluntarily. By making that sacrifice, a priest is even closer to God, because he gives up the feeling of sexual pleasure, the ability to have a wife, and the potential to start a family. The priest looks at God as his only intimate love. Therefore, the celibacy of a priest should stay." |
||
 |
The church should not have married priests. Just because one person is sick, you don't try to cure everyone of something they don't have. Marriage and the priesthood are both in equal danger. We can see that the divorce rate is higher than that of priests dropping out. It is the lack of commitment in our world today. The priest also has too much going on in the parish to have a family also to worry about. It just doesn't work and history has indeed shown that. (Jude Graham aged 15).
When I was 12, celibacy wasn't an issue - I just wanted to be a priest! Now that I'm 15, it has become a difficult choice for me, but then there are difficulties in marriage too. I don't believe that priests should marry, for the following reasons - 1) There are practical reasons - trying to balance time spent with your wife and family and your time devoted to your parish community. Let's imagine that Tuesday is your family night spent together, but someone has been in a car accident and is seriously ill in hospital. The hospital calls you to attend. What do you do? Another practical issue is income for your family. If a priest and his wife and two children had to depend on the Sunday Offerings, they would probably be destitute in weeks!
2) There are spiritual reasons - celibacy is a true gift from God which is a sign that the priest imitates Christ who gave himself in sacrifice for us. Indeed, Archbishop Mark Coleridge (Australia) said
"At the altar, which is the epicenter of the priesthood, the priest speaks words which are not his own: This is my body given for you; this is my blood poured out for you.
Christ calls priests not only to speak these which are his words, but also to live the mystery of the Body and Blood which is his own sacrifice".
The priesthood is such a special calling that in the end I think that if this is what God has chosen me for, I will do anything He asks. For me, the call to be a priest simply outweighs anything else. Jude sent me a video link on celibacy, where a priest said that the Church is the Bride of Christ. A priest acts in the person of Christ, so the Church is the Bride of the priest. (John in UK).
About the priestly celibacy issue. I totally agree with it because as the
Church is the bride of Christ, and the priest is married to the Church, he
can not have two brides. It is my belief that there are two vocations which
we could be called to. To marriage or to the celibate life in the
priesthood. Marriage is the preparation of people for the eternal wedding
feast of the Lamb and to be eternally bonded to him in heaven. In the
priesthood the man enters straight into that wedding feast and is eternally
bonded with Christ. You can't expect the person to be bonded completely to
both Christ and his spouse. You read of the wedding feast of the Lamb from
Revelation 19:9-10
It is better for a priest to devote himself entirely to God and not having a
wife to worry and care about. St Paul talks about the unmarried being able
to entirely devote themselves to the Lord's affairs in 1 Corinthians 7:32-35
7:32. But I would have you to be without solicitude. He that is without a wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord: how he may please God.
7:33. But he that is with a wife is solicitous for the things of the world: how he may please his wife. And he is divided.
7:34. And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord: that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she that is married thinketh on the things of the world: how she may please her husband.
7:35. And this I speak for your profit, not to cast a snare upon you, but for that which is decent and which may give you power to attend upon the Lord, without impediment.
How priestly celibacy affects my vocation to be a priest- It doesn't weaken
my vocation in any way. I just want to serve God and his Church and devote
my whole self entirely to him, for that I quite agree with priestly
celibacy. Being celibate is not difficult for me because I have learnt self
mastery and I can always turn and pray to God who will strengthen me if it
does become difficult.
How does my culture/society view this and my own age group- Regrettably
modern day society thinks sex is everything and it is totally uncool to be a
virgin, this sort of nonsense being spread by the media. Sex is thought of a
means of self pleasure but it is an act of free, total, faithful and
fruitful love to your spouse and must bear the possibility of having a
child, natural family planning is acceptable though. The person stays pure
as a virgin waiting to give themselves entirely and whole to the spouse at
marriage. The vocation of celibacy is giving yourself entirely and your
virginity to God, that's why priests should stay celibate
My parents do sort of think of it as a blow that they won't be able to have grandchildren but they are happy with my decision and they are proud of me.
(Jason aged 16, South Africa)
"The vow of celibacy is a matter of keeping one's word to Christ and the Church. a duty and a proof of the priest's inner maturity; it is the expression of his personal dignity."
Pope John Paul II