The Scandal of Mandatory Celibacy in the Roman Church

Go back 900 years... priests in the Western Church were married, had families, and ministered to their flocks. Obviously, it was an effective ministry as it was a very large church and growing. Bishops also had families, as did Popes-- 39 of them to be exact. However, a problem began. The dioceses were legally in the name of the presiding bishop. Not a problem until the presiding bishop passes away. The diocese becomes a part of the inheritance and then goes to the family. This causes a problem for the central authority of the church. They lose the land, buildings and other property. So... what is the logical choice? Change the way that the church is administrated? No! They pass a canonical law mandating that clergy are forbidden to marry... to have families... to live a normal life. All in order to protect money and property.

The problem here is that God created man AND woman. He created them as complimentary. In essence, man and woman are meant to be together. From that union comes the continuing population of the world. Since it is created by God, and is in the natural order, to state that it is forbidden if one desires to serve Him sounds absolutely ludicrous.

So... fast forward 850 or 900 years to the last century and the present day. Training for the priesthood as we know it today takes years... many years. Actually, for a dioscean priest it is typically 6-8 years-- in religious orders it can be longer. Let me say at this point, throughout history, certain individuals have felt a deep call to forego a relationship with another person in order to live a solitary life in union with God. This is indeed a calling-- a calling that few have-- but a beautiful calling none the less. The problem is that the vast majority of people... even the vast majority of people who God calls to serve His people... do not have this calling. When one is taken out of part of the natural order of progression with regard to psychosexual development, that development is arrested wherever the individual was removed. Sometimes a regression happens as well, and the person actually becomes LESS mature psychosexually. This can cause a problem. Desire for intimate union with another person on all levels (emotional, intellectual, spiritual AND physical) is a part of the human beings that God created us to be. The desires for all four levels of intimacy do not go away just because a person chooses to ignore them. In the inner sanctum of the seminary and celibate priesthood, a person can realistically fulfill the emotional, intellectual and spiritual intimacy connections. Where the problem lies is in the physical intimacy portion.

The argument from the side of the mandatory celibatists (my word) is that even in a marriage, the physical intimate union is a small part of the marriage. However, it is in those moments where the two become one that the union that is there between them becomes physically manifested. God created human beings to be both spiritual AND physical. This is what separates humans from angels, an angel is only spiritual. Humans are actually of a higher level of creation. This higher level of creation then creates a physical hunger. This hunger is not a bad thing. Sometimes, like the hunger for food, it must be rationally managed lest it get out of control. However, to CONSTANTLY ignore a hunger for food causes death. In the case of the hunger for physical intimacy, to constantly ignore it (except in the rarest of cases) causes death of the self. It causes death of some of the other levels of intimacy as well. In addition, it many times causes a cold-heartedness and callousness in the person that can lead to a lack of compassion and empathy.

When this lack of compassion and empathy occur, and this is coupled with a physical desire for an intimate physical union with another, and when this is contained in a person who is underdeveloped and immature psychosexually, it can cause problems. The problems it causes can be seen in the scandals that have been coming out of the church in the last decade or two. And these, I fear, are just the tip of the iceburg.

LifeTeen is dangerous for just this reason. As can easily be seen elsewhere on this site, it is set up so that it is very easy for someone who is psychosexaully immature and starved for physical intimacy to use someone who is also vulnerable in any number of ways to feed this hunger. This is an inappropriate way to feed the hunger. It is a scandal in itself that an institution which purports to follow Christ's example mandates something that is outside of the natural order of creation, indeed something that is sacramentalized!

The scandal of pedophilia is horrible. The pain that it causes is deep. It is a travesty that I feel called to do what I can to stop. However, as long as mandatory celibacy continues to exist, the arrested psychosexual development will as well. And as long as things like LifeTeen continue to exist, it will give an improper outlet for those who feel compelled to feed the hunger. The scandal is not over... it is continuing... and growing.