Clerical celibacy

“ Paul to Timothy, "A bishop must be the husband of one wife," I consider to be something more than mere advice that Christian pastors should marry. For my own part I have always inveighed against the law of celibacy, and invariably have advised my friends to enter, as early as they prudently might, into the conjugal state. Why should not I then do so, whilst yet in the prime of life?
"What a scandal to the Church," I observed one day to some Romish priests, "is this vow of celibacy among the clergy. ”

“ But this fact, instead of an apology, affords the heaviest charge against the crafty and barbarous system of laying snares, wherein unsuspecting innocence may, at the very entrance of life, lose every chance of future peace, happiness and virtue. To allow a girl of sixteen to bind herself, for ever, [Pg 72] with vows—not only under the awful, though distant guardianship of heaven, but the odious and immediate superintendence of man—ranks, indeed, with the most hideous abuses of superstition. The law of celibacy, it is true, does not bind the secular clergy till the age of twenty-one ”

“ Nobody can feel more deeply than I do the immeasurable evils of an enforced celibacy; nobody can feel more deeply the deplorable state of the Church which furnishes only rare and exceptional examples of voluntary celibacy for the sake of Christ. ”

“ During the fifty or so generations that have elapsed since the establishment of Christianity, the nunneries and monasteries, and the celibate lives of Catholic priests, have had vast social effects, how far for good and how far for evil need not be discussed here. The point which I wish to enforce is the potency, not only of the religious sense in aiding or deterring 57marriage, but more especially the influence and authority of ministers of religion in enforcing celibacy. ”

“ It was only after many years of bitter debate and in response to the growing influence of the monastic ideal, that celibacy finally came to be looked upon as the highest form of Christian virtue, and was enforced upon the clergy. As in the case of the vow of poverty, there certainly can be no reasonable objection to the individual adoption of celibacy, if one is either disinclined to marriage or feels that he can do better work unmarried. But [pg 383] neither Scripture nor reason justifies the imposition of celibacy upon any man, nor the view that a life of continence is holier than marriage. ”

“ Lea at this point devotes a chapter to the Eastern Church, of which it is sufficient for us to say, that in this establishment the question of celibacy was less violently agitated than among its neighbors, and that a final decision was more speedily reached. Early in the sixth century, Justinian published an edict which still forms the basis of its celibatarian discipline. Marriage in orders is forbidden, and men who have been twice married are inadmissible. Monks are of course bound to chastity, but the lower grades of the secular clergy are free to marry. ”

“ Their enumeration among abuses, in the second place, of the celibacy of the clergy, and the manner in which their priests marry and persuade others to marry, are verily matters worthy of astonishment, since they call sacerdotal celibacy an abuse, when that which is directly contrary, the violation of celibacy and the illicit transition to marriage, deserves to be called the worst abuse in priests. ”

“ An abbot was as powerful and independent as a bishop. But to make the Papacy supreme it was necessary to call in the aid of the secular priests likewise. Unmarried priests, being more like monks, were more efficient supporters of the papal throne. To maintain celibacy, therefore, was always in accordance with papal policy.
But Nature had gradually asserted its claims over tradition and authority. The clergy, especially in France and Germany, were setting at defiance the edicts of popes and councils. The glory of celibacy was in an eclipse. ”

“ Nevertheless, there is often a danger that we may lose sight of its essence—that we may look upon celibacy as a mere disciplinary law of the Church, made for prudential reasons, and our duty as merely to abstain from every thought or act which may endanger its observance— to look on celibacy, in short, as a negative rather than a positive precept, forbidding us to do this or that, but not adding anything very special to our daily spiritual life, beyond absence of sin. ”

“ But as for that chastity which the Pope so highly lauds in his monks and nuns, and contemptible priests, it is in the first place polluted and contaminated by numberless horrible sins; and in addition to all this, celibacy is an institution of man without any warrant from the Word of God. O, what triumphs would the Papists celebrate could they but prove by the Word of God their celibacy to be a divine institution, as we can abundantly prove marriage to be. With what mighty weight of the Pope's authority would they compel all men to adopt their life of celibacy. ”

“ The rule produced sin and vice, and introduced moral discord and turpitude into the lives of thousands of the best men of the Middle Ages. In the baser days of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the current practice was a recognized violation of professed duty and virtue, under money penalties or penances. Yet the notion of celibacy for the clergy had been so established by discipline in the usage of priests and the mores of Christendom that a married priest was a disgusting and intolerable idea. ”

“ There cannot be much doubt as to the great benefit to the Church of a celibate priesthood, but it is a mistake to endeavour to force the facts of history to demonstrate that celibacy was of primitive obligation. It174 was always felt to be most seemly, and when Western Christendom became sufficiently organized to admit of the rule being made, the popes and councils did what was evidently for the good of the Kingdom of Christ in requiring the clergy to lead celibate lives. ”

“ It can scarcely be denied that the Roman Catholic clergy have always owed much of their influence to their celibacy, and that in many cases this influence has been most justly earned by the celibate’s devotion to an unworldly ideal. ”

“ All good men felt the necessity of re-establishing the divine law, which declares marriage honorable in all. [866] The evangelical ministers had taught that the law of celibacy was of merely human origin, imposed by Roman pontiffs in opposition to the Word of God, which, when describing a true bishop, represents him as a husband and father. ”

“ They may keep concubines and remain priests. If they take wives, they are thrown to the flames.
Parents who design their children for a celibate priesthood should emasculate them in their infancy, instead of forcing them, reluctant or ignorant, into a furnace of licentiousness. ”

“ During this century also we find much scandal caused by the pretended celibacy of the clergy, for the people—regarding celibacy as purer than marriage, and considering that "they, who took wives, were of all others the most subject to the influence of malignant demons"—urged their clergy to remain celibate, "and many of the sacred order, especially in Africa, consented to satisfy the desires of the people, and endeavoured to do this in such a manner as not to offer an entire violence to their own inclinations. ”

“ They dare to affirm that the law of perpetual celibacy has been divinely revealed, although it is contrary to manifest testimonies of Scripture, which command that to avoid fornication each one should have his own wife, 1 Cor. ”

“ In determining penalties, however, it was advised that considerable weight in extenuation should be allowed for drunkenness, and for the readiness and frankness of the culprit in confessing, as well as for his ignorance or simplicity. [316]
MARRIAGE BETTER THAN CELIBACY
There were two special propositions, which were so widely held and came so repeatedly before the tribunals that they almost form a special class. One of these was the assertion that the married state is as good as or better than that of celibacy as prescribed for clerics and religious. ”

“ But while the commandment of God is in force, while the custom of the Church is well known, while impure celibacy causes many scandals, adulteries, and other crimes deserving the punishments of just magistrates, yet it is a marvelous thing that in nothing is more cruelty exercised than against the marriage of priests. ”

“ Enforced celibacy in normal priests, simply means adultery, hidden behind walls and disguised as religion. Therefore, when adultery has to be tolerated, as an incident to a certain [Pg 9] form of Christianity, the crime eludes the law, the illicit intercourse of the sexes identifies itself with a religious system, and it becomes as impossible to control as does the robber who gains control of the machinery of government. When the robber is the Law, who is to punish the criminal? When adultery is elevated into a system which is recognized as a religion, who is to punish the adulterer? ”

“ This alone is sufficient to make one a celibate, and nothing more is required. Religious do not wed; but, specifically, that is all there is in common between them. All celibates are not chaste; celibacy is not necessarily chastity, by a large majority. Unless something other than selfishness suggests this choice of life, the word is apt to be a misnomer for profligacy. And one who takes the vow of celibacy does not break it by sinning against the Sixth Commandment; he is true to it until he weds. ”

“ He who tries to interfere with the married rights of another, shall be punished by inability to contract a valid marriage himself. [This punishment of compulsory celibacy is, according to Dahn, derived neither from Roman nor German law, but is possibly due to Church influence.] ”

“ If we remember that the Catholic Church was occupied for more than a thousand years in the attempt to impose the prohibition of marriage on its priesthood,—an educated and trained body of men, who had every spiritual and worldly motive to accept the prohibition, and were, moreover, brought up to regard asceticism as the best ideal in life, [453] —we may realize how absurd it is to attempt to gain the same end by mere casual prohibitions issued to untrained people with no motives to obey such prohibitions, and no ideals of celibacy. ”

“ CHAPTER VI. IS IT LAWFUL TO EXHORT OTHERS TO THE PRACTICE OF PERFECT CHASTITY OR CELIBACY. WE can exhort others to what is possible, permitted, and better. Now, with the exception of a few accidental cases, celibacy, which is always possible, is allowed, and is better. Hence, as a general rule, and saving the exceptions, celibacy can be advised. ”

“ To quote their sentiments on the subject, is unnecessary ; for they unanimously, in all their writings, inculcate a compliance with the counsel of St. Paul; and, when the discipline of the Church permitted marriage, themselves chose a life of voluntary celibacy. They saw, how true was the observation, that the married man was divided, and that solicitude for the things of the world was inseparable from the state. ”

“ The Roman Catholic clergy are still required to live in celibacy, unless the pope grants them an especial license to take a wife; and great numbers, both of men and women, seclude themselves in convents, from the idea that there is a peculiar sanctity in single life. ”

“ The enormous popular support given to Calvin, Luther, and Knox, to Henry VIII., to Garibaldi, to Bolivar, and to Juarez, was largely fanned and fed by the intense wrath of the people against the pope-protected immorality of the priests—the adultery which could not be punished because it was interwoven into the system of popery.
The Popes could not punish the priests, because the Popes were equally criminal. The system required celibacy: the system was against the law of God: the system gave the priest absolute power over women, and secret access to them. ”

“ The Injunction of Celibacy.―In accordance with a hint given by the Spanish Provincial Synod of Elvira in A.D. 306 in its 32nd canon, the Œcumenical Council of Nicæa in A.D. 325 was inclined to make the obligation of celibacy at least for the Ordines Majores a binding law over the whole church. But on the other hand the Egyptian bishop Paphnutius, a confessor and from his youth an ascetic, stoutly maintained that the fellowship of married persons too is chastity. His powerful voice decided the matter. ”

“ Paul, which recommend celibacy as the more excellent way, so as to give honour to those who voluntarily so abode, that they might wait on the Lord; and in particular, to assume that the clergy should rather, of the two, be unmarried than married:—he will not permit the prejudices of a later time to hinder him from honouring those whom his Lord so delighted to honour; he will consider that the same cast of thought which leads men to scorn religious celibacy, will certainly prevent marriage also, which they profess to honour, from being strictly religious. ”

“ It will now be necessary to see how these reforms were received in the various countries. Celibacy will be considered first. [451:2] Historically this institution runs back through the Christian era to the Jewish period. Jewish priests married, but were forbidden to marry harlots, profane women, or widows. [451:3] The New Testament contains no absolute prohibition of marriage. The Apostles married [451:4] —even Peter—and the leaders of churches were advised to take unto [452] themselves wives, [452:1] but many passages were soon interpreted to favour celibacy. ”