In an interview in this paper (January 7), Archbishop Charles Scicluna opined that priests should be given the option to marry.
Throughout the centuries, this controversial topic has been brought up in various clerical circles and synods; yet, until today, this rule has not been revised.
That Scicluna felt the need to bring it up locally, today, suggests he strongly believes that some members of the clergy find it difficult to live a celibate life.
Though Scicluna acknowledges that celibacy still has a place in the Church, he insists that it should look into revisiting its rules to allow Catholic priests the option to get married.
The archbishop asks: “Why should we lose a young man who would have made a young priest just because he wanted to get married?”
We all are aware that the priestly vocation is a special call from God and, once it is a call from God and man responds to this call, it is through God’s special grace that one would be able to follow such a call.
Being faithful to one’s vocation, be it in married life or the priesthood, requires sacrifice, faithfulness and commitment.
The priesthood, being a loftier call, is more demanding and requires more commitment and complete abstinence. But it is precisely because the priesthood is a special call from God that it carries with it special graces from above.
The code of canon law describes clerical celibacy as “a special gift of God by which sacred ministries can more easily remain close to Christ with an undivided heart and can dedicate themselves more freely to the service of God and their neighbours”.
To give priests the option to marry simply because celibacy is not dogma but an ecclesiastical rule gives one the impression that celibacy is something trivial. By giving priests the option to marry, one is giving in to the frailty of human nature and losing faith in God’s special graces tied down to the sacrament of Holy Orders.
The code of canon law specifically states that celibacy is “a special gift of God”. The priesthood, as a sacrament, carries with it special graces and we need to affirm and emphasise such specific gifts.
This is not a question of whether priestly ordination and marriage are compatible or contradictory. Even Pope Francis holds that “there is no contradiction for a priest to marry” and that such a discipline could be revised.
Who of us, married couples, do not struggle to remain faithful to our call?- Ray Azzopardi
Here we are arguing about the unconditional love of God. Here we are referring to a person who wholeheartedly and completely offers himself unconditionally to God and service in the Church. It is a manifestation of one’s total and unreserved commitment, as Jesus, Himself, points out when He says: “Some refuse to marry for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matt. 19:12).
Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Robert Sarah, in their book on celibacy entitled From the Depth of Our Hearts, state: “Because of the regular and often even daily celebration of the Eucharist, the situation of the priests of the Church of Jesus Christ has changed dramatically. From now on, their entire life is in contact with the divine mystery. This requires on their part exclusivity with regard to God.
“Consequently, this excludes other ties that, like marriage, involve one’s whole life. From daily celebration of the Eucharist, which implies a permanent state of service to God, was born spontaneously the impossibility of a matrimonial bond.”
So, though married priests might become an option, there shall always be a distinctive trait between married priests and celibate priests. It goes without saying that, due to their complete commitment, celibate priests would be considered by the faithful as being closer to their priestly call.
I am in no way denying the fact that many priests struggle to remain faithful to their call of being celibate. But who of us, married couples, do not struggle to remain faithful to our call?
To allow married men to be ordained to help meet the needs of the Church in Amazon, as has been voted for in the Synod of Bishops in 2019, does in no way imply that there should be a general rule for priests to have the option to get married. The exception, in this case, does not make the rule.
Fr Thomas Weinandy, writing in The Catholic Thing – a forum for intelligent Catholic commentary – under the title Celibacy and the Priesthood, states: “While married priests celebrate the Eucharist, only the celibate priest manifests, in sacramental union with the celibate Jesus, the total and unreserved sacrificial self-giving of oneself in worship of the Father.”
He concludes by stating that “celibacy should not be despised or belittled. Rather, it should be treasured, for it is a vital doctrinal portion of the Catholic Church’s glorious patrimony.”
Let the Church, if need be, revise its rules on celibate priests but let it keep affirming that celibacy is a special gift from God, which endows those who commit themselves to the service of the Church unreservedly and unconditionally and let the call for celibate priests be considered nobler than that of married priests.
Ray Azzopardi is a former headmaster.