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Clerical celibacy

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Clerical celibacy is the practice of various religious traditions in which clergy, monastics and those in religious orders (female or male) adopt a celibate life, refraining from marriage and sexual relationships, including masturbation and "impure thoughts" (such as sexual visualisation and fantasies).

Background

In some Christian churches, priests and/or bishops must remain unmarried, while in others, married men may be ordained as deacons or priests but may not typically remarry after the death of their wife. In conjunction with Christian views prohibiting sex outside of marriage, this implies a life of sexual abstinence, and, essentially, abstinence from sexual or romantic relationships, including dating. In some cases it also discourages social contact with members of the opposite sex in private or without a chaperone.

In some Christian churches, a vow of chastity is made by members of religious orders or monastic communities, along with vows of poverty and obedience, in order to imitate the life of Jesus of Nazareth. This vow of chastity is different from clerical celibacy because the promise is made directly to God, while the promise of clerical celibacy is made to the church alone.

Celibacy for religious and monastics (brothers/monks and sisters/nuns) and bishops is upheld by both the Catholic Church and Orthodox Christian traditions. In Latin Rite Catholicism, however, all priests remain celibate unless given special permission, while in most Orthodox traditions, and in the Catholic Eastern Rites, priests may be ordained if already married, but may not marry a second time, while bishops must be unmarried men.

Neither the Catholic nor the Orthodox tradition has officially considered the rule of celibacy to be among the infallible dogmas of the church. Rather, those rules are considered to be in the power of popes, ecumenical councils, patriarchs, or synods to adjust if they feel it is correct. Rules of celibacy in the Catholic tradition have been modified a number of times.

In some branches of Buddhism, priests, nuns and monks also are bound to celibacy, although Zen Buddhists, in particular, are not.

Rules

Rules on celibacy differ between different religious traditions and churches:

  • In Latin-Rite (Western) Catholic churches, married men may (since the time of the Second Vatican Council in 1965) be ordained deacons, but may not be ordained priests or bishops, nor may one marry after ordination. Since the Second Vatican Council, exceptions may be allowed for married Protestant priests or ministers who convert to Catholicism and wish to become priests in the Catholic Church, provided their wives consent (Catholics consider Protestant ordinations invalid, while recognizing Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox ordinations as valid). In some cases, laicized Catholic priests are allowed to marry by special dispensation. Additionally, dispensations can be granted for deacons whose wives have died to marry a second time.
  • In Eastern Orthodox churches, and Eastern-rite Catholic churches (which are in full communion with the Roman Catholic church), married men may be ordained deacons or priests, but may not be ordained bishops, and one may not marry after ordination. The Oriental Orthodox churches and the Assyrian Church of the East follow the same rules that hold in the Eastern Orthodox Church. While some incorrectly believe all Orthodox bishops must be monks, in fact, according to church law, they simply may no longer be living with their wives if they are to be consecrated to the episcopacy. (The canons stipulate that they must also see to their wives' maintenance. See Canon 12 of the Quinisext Council.) Typically, the wife of such a man will take up the monastic life herself, though this also is not required. There are many Orthodox bishops currently serving who have never been tonsured (formally initiated) to monastic orders. There are also many who are tonsured monastics but have never formally lived the monastic life. Further, a number of bishops are widowers, but because clergy cannot remarry after ordination, such a man must remain celibate after the death of his wife.
  • Churches of the Anglican Communion have no restrictions on the marriage of deacons, priests, bishops, or other ministers. Early Anglican Church clergy under Henry VIII were required to be celibate (see 6 Articles), but the requirement was eliminated by Edward VI. Some Anglo-Catholic priestly orders require their members to remain celibate, as do orders of brothers and sisters.
  • Other Protestant traditions have no restrictions on the marriage of deacons, priests, bishops, or other clergy or ministers.
  • In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormon tradition, all worthy men can become priests. Regardless of whether they become priests, strict abstinence from all sexual behavior is universally applied to all men until they marry a woman. Gay men must always be celibate. Priesthood may be suspended in the event of unsanctioned or unchaste conduct. Generally only married men are called to be bishops.
  • Judaism has no history of celibacy for its leaders, rabbis or kohens. Before the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, priests kohens and Levites were required to practice continence (abstain from sexual intercourse with their wife) before and during their time of service at the temple. They were permitted to resume marital relations after completing their service. Some community functions are, as a rule, filled only by married men.
  • In some traditions of Buddhism, as discussed above, monks are expected to refrain from sexual activities and relationships.

Celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church's stated reasons for clerical celibacy in are both theological and practical. Foremost in the theological realm are the desire to follow the teachings of Jesus with regard to chastity and the sacrifice of married life for the "sake of the Kingdom" (Luke 18:28-30, Matthew 19:27-30; Mark 10:20-21), and to follow the example of Jesus Christ in being "married" to the Church, viewed by Catholicism and many Christian traditions as the "Bride of Christ". Also of import are the teachings of St. Paul that chastity is the superior state of life, and his desire expressed in I Corinthians 7:7-8, "I would that all men were even as myself [celibate]—but every one has his proper gift from God; one after this manner, and another after that. But I say to the unmarried and the widows. It is good for them if they so continue, even as I."

In terms of practical justifications, the reasons for celibacy are given by the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 7:7-8;32-35: "But I would have you to be without solicitude. He that is without a wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife: and he is divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit. But she that is married thinketh on the things of this world how she may please her husband. And this I speak for your profit, not to cast a snare upon you, but for that which is decent and which may give you power to attend upon the Lord without impediment."

Celibacy for priests is a discipline in the Catholic Church, not a doctrine: in other words, a church regulation, but not an infallible divine teaching. It is based upon the life of Christ and his apparent celibate ways, however the first pope, St. Peter, as well as many subsequent popes, priests, and clergymen during the church's first 300 years were in fact married men, and often fathers. The practice of married clergy fell out of favour around the time of the Council of Elvira and it was made law in the 800's. It remains law today for Latin-rite (Roman) Catholics, but not for Eastern-rite Catholics. However, in North America, even Eastern-rite Catholic bishops will generally only ordain unmarried men because it is still feared that married priests in North America would create scandal. Exceptions are sometimes made (including in Latin-Rite Catholicism), granted by authority of the Pope, when married Protestant clergy become Catholic. Because the rule of celibacy is a law and not a doctrine, it can, in principle, be changed at any time by the Pope. Doctrines, on the other hand, cannot be changed. Nonetheless, both the present Pope, Benedict XVI, and his predecessor, spoke clearly of their understanding that the traditional practice was not likely to change. (For a detailed history of celibacy in the Catholic Church, see the Catholic Encyclopedia's article on "Celibacy of the Clergy" at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03481a.htm.)

Among the early Church statements on the topic of sexual continence and celibacy are "Decreta" and "Cum in unum" of Pope Siricius (c. 385), which claimed that clerical sexual abstinence was an apostolic practice that must be followed by ministers of the church. Two Canons from the following councils also help us understand the Roman Catholic position regarding continence and celibacy of the early church's priests:

(Canon 33): It is decided that marriage be altogether prohibited to bishops, priests, and deacons, or to all clerics placed in the ministry, and that they keep away from their wives and not beget children; whoever does this, shall be deprived of the honor of the clerical office.
  • Council of Carthage (390)
(Canon 3): It is fitting that the holy bishops and priests of God as well as the Levites, i.e. those who are in the service of the divine sacraments, observe perfect continence, so that they may obtain in all simplicity what they are asking from God; what the Apostles taught and what antiquity itself observed, let us also endeavour to keep... It pleases us all that bishop, priest and deacon, guardians of purity, abstain from conjugal intercourse with their wives, so that those who serve at the altar may keep a perfect chastity.

These canons are purely local to Latin-rite Roman Catholics, as the prohibitions are not even extended to the Eastern-Rite Catholics in communion with Rome.

Opposition to clerical celibacy during the Reformation

Celibacy as a requirement for priests was an important point of disagreement during the Reformation, with the Reformers arguing that requiring an oath of celibacy from a priest was contrary to biblical teaching in 1Ti 4: 1-5[1], Heb 13: 4[2] and 1Co 9: 5[3], implied a degradation of marriage, and was one reason for the widespread sexual misconduct within the clergy at the time of the Reformation (e.g., discussed by Calvin in his Institutes of the Christian Religion IV,12,23-28: [4]). The doctrinal consensus of the reformers in this point was reflected in the marriages of Zwingli in 1522, Luther in 1525, and Calvin in 1539; in England, the married Thomas Cranmer was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1533. The Council of Trent (1545-63) stated in response to the Reformation that celibacy and virginity are superior to marriage, thus rendering a change in policy a more delicate question for the Roman Catholic Church even today.

Clerical celibacy - a recent dispute

Today, the topic of celibacy for catholic priests has again become a point of a heated discussion[5] in the public and within the catholic church, possibly in part as a reaction to the difficulties in recruiting new priests, but also in the wake of discoveries of longstanding pedophilic behaviour of a number of Catholic priests in the USA. The association of pedophilic behavior with celibacy is controversial [6], and in view of the abundance of priests in the regions outside of Europe and the United States, the Roman Catholic Church has yet to take any action which might lead to lifting the current requirement of celibacy.

Celibacy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

In the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), pastors, or "ordained ministers," must live in either opposite-sex marriage or celibate chastity. This therefore precludes same-sex unions and opposite-sex cohabitation. According to the ELCA's guidelines for pastors (called "Vision and Expectations" [7]):

"Ordained ministers who are homosexual in their self-understanding are expected to abstain from homosexual sexual relationships."

Therefore, gay and lesbian, and bisexual pastors are required to make a promise of sexual abstinence (or, in the case of bisexuals, to marry only opposite-sex partners). This policy's future is currently being debated. Proponents of the policy stand on Biblical teachings found in 1Corinthians 6:9[8], Jude 5-10[9], Romans 1:26-28[10], Leveticus 18:22[11] & 20:13[12].

See also

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