Celibacy And The Church

To the Editor:

On this coming weekend, there will be a special religious celebration in Secaucus, New Jersey. This event is the National Celebration of CORPUS 2001, a national community of married Roman Catholic priests who have been advocating for over 30 years, for optional celibacy (i.e. a married priesthood alongside of the current celibate priesthood) and for women’s ordination. There are tens of thousands of such priests within the United States and countless others throughout the world. In addition, all objective surveys of the past 25 years have reflected the fact that a great majority of Roman Catholic congregations would favor such a change in this merely church law. Such a change could be made in an instant through the stroke of a pen.

Roman Catholics have been praying for vocations to the priesthood from time immemorial. I would boldly suggest that the Lord of us all answered that prayer in many ways, over the life of the Christian Church. People of most religious persuasions have, continually, over the centuries, heard that call and responded. Members of most of the Reform and Orthodox communities, also heard the call, and responded accordingly. Even Roman Catholic priests (for those who have read and studied the history of the church) lived under the provision of optional celibacy for the great first half of the life of the church. The statistics are there, if one chooses to read them, which support CORPUS’ thesis that the early disciples of Jesus, including the Apostles (less one), pope, bishops, and ordinary clergy, found no contradiction between the reception of the sacraments of marriage and priesthood. I would refer readers to Garry Wills’ relatively recent book Papal Sin, which deals with a number of historical questions. The subtitle, Structures of Deceit says it better.

Will a married priesthood resolve all of the issues currently facing the church? Certainly not! But it would strongly assist the Roman Catholic community in several healthy ways: by providing for improved marriage counseling, a reality check on sexual ethics and a curb on power abuse within curial, national, and diocesan administrative offices. Most importantly, it would quickly draw from the most devout families, a large number of candidates who would readily apply for acceptance into this esteemed entity. Rome need only listen to the God who calls us all and to the community of faithful who cry out for assistance and guidance in life’s greatest concerns. The “Big Lie” among today’s structures of deceit is that there is no religious vocation crisis. I would invite anyone who would like to dialogue on a more personal level to contact me at your convenience. I assure you that your time will be well spent. 203-270-0581.

The Rev Leo E. McGrath

Corpus Christie: a catholic community

13 Sugarloaf Road, Sandy Hook                                   June 29, 2001