Wednesday, April 10, 2002
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Wednesday, April 10, 2002 |
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Celibacy and priestly scandals are nothing new for Roman Catholic Church The press has the right to condemn the deplorable acts of sinful priests and demand public justice. But it has no grounds to attack the priesthood, priestly celibacy, or Catholic doctrine. A recent article by a nationally syndicated columnist in a major Atlanta newspaper charged that priestly celibacy was invented 1,000 years ago as a land-robbing scheme of the pope. Perhaps the author needs to acquaint himself with the Bible and Church history. St. Paul recommended the discipline of celibacy in 1 Corinthians 7:32-33 to facilitate devotion to Christ by leaving the heart undivided and increase availability of the priest for service of the Gospel. It was widely encouraged and increasingly adopted by the Roman and Latin Church communities from the earliest days of Christianity. The argument of doing away with priestly celibacy because of a minority of unfaithful priests makes as much sense as doing away with monogamy in marriage because of unfaithful spouses. Both are sacred institutions. Both demand discipline, fidelity, and grace. And the greatness of both institutions is measured among those who follow their vows, not break them. Scandal among the clergy is nothing new. Of the 12 Apostles, one was a "Judas priest" and traitor. Another, who happened to be the first pope, publicly denied his master. And nine others fled to the hills. Not a good start for the Church. The solution back then was to pray that these spiritual leaders would be strengthened instead of being "sifted like wheat" when tempted. Perhaps our ministers today need the same support. Bob Walden Fayetteville
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