Why Are Priests Celibate

[SpiritualAntiseptic]

I don't see how it would help anything. Priests that don't visit people choose to do so.

 

[Needing_Grace]

I am a confirmed Catholic but I have been attending a Lutheran Church lately. I have always wondered why are Priests celibate. It doesn't seem to be scriptural.

Others have addressed the scriptural issue but I'd like to present another facet.

I used to be Missouri Synod Lutheran who converted from non-denominational. During my period of personal instruction, Pastor's wife would inevitably call and interrupt the pastoral things he was doing. It annoyed me.

When I became Catholic, I never had that problem with any priest. Lousy sermons, yes. I've even had a priest say, "oh, my God!" at something I said in confession. Interruptions by telephoning wives or kids, never.

Sent from my iPhone using CF

 

[WarriorAngel]

Why?
Because as sinners - stuff happens.
Priests were abusing the Church who were married - in the west.

But thats ok - because Paul did say the man who remains a virgin does what pleases the Lord - and so - either married or not - it is scriptural.
[God knew we would need it]

However; in the eastern Catholic Church - there are married priests. And there are a few Catholic priests who came from other churches who are married. [The Holy Spirit wills the reason of every season]

It's called a practice - or a discipline.

God Bless.

 

[WarriorAngel]

My priest lives an hour away and yet has come to my home to bless it and meet with my wife ten times more than any Catholic priest I ever had who lives five minutes from my house....and my priest has a wife and 2 kids. Both of his boys are AWESOME, incredible boys who are not only very intelligent, but extremely mature.

It's just anecdotal, but when I was an Anglican and since being Orthodox, the married priests I have known were awesome and very pastoral. My worst experiences with priests being aloof, uncaring, missing appointments, and seeming apathetic were my Catholic experiences. Mind you, this is anecdotal, not a commentary on all the faith. But I do personally feel that the idea that a priest with kids and a wife can't do what a single priest can do is absolutely false.

Same idea could apply to teaching, my profession. There are single teachers who almost never go to the extracurricular activities of our students and yet there are married teachers who have 3-4 kids of their own who NEVER miss a student's events!

I personally think a married priesthood would be AN AWESOME THING for Catholicism. But that's only my two cents.

I had a priest who traveled 25 minutes to come to my home and bless it. [3 years ago]
The previous priest couldnt keep his head screwed on if it werent attached so i never asked him.
The previous one to him was booked. Flying solo - he had a retreat center to do and when he did a Mass - it was standing room only.
Too many folks to attend to - so i didnt ask him either.

Being single leaves them free to pray and do sacraments wherever needed - but it doesnt always help them get dinner on the table, and multi-task as it is with a wife.

So it depends on their personality more than their office or being married or not.

 

[eastcoast_bsc]

Why should they be married?

Apostle John never married. He was very young when he began to follow the Lord. Peter had to leave his wife, his house, children, ship etc. etc. to Follow the Lord. The Bible says that john was the most loved disciple, but the Bible also says tha tPeter was the one who loved the Lord the most.

Paul says that Bishops should be married with only one woman, and he said it because many men were maried with many women, but he stresses that he would like that everybody should be like him, Celibate.


[1 Timothy 3]

{3:1} It is a faithful saying: if a man desires the

episcopate, he desires a good work. {3:2} Therefore, it is
necessary for a bishop to be beyond reproach, the husband of
one wife, sober, prudent, gracious, chaste, hospitable, a
teacher, {3:3} not a drunkard, not combative but restrained,
not quarrelsome, not covetous; {3:4} but a man who leads his
own house well, having children who are subordinate with all​

chastity.

But Paul also says:

[1 Corinthians 7] ​

​

{7:1} Now concerning the things about

which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a
woman. {7:2} But, because of fornication, let each man have
his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
{7:3} A husband should fulfill his obligation to his wife, and
a wife should also act similarly toward her husband. {7:4} It
is not the wife, but the husband, who has power over her
body. But, similarly also, it is not the husband, but the wife,
who has power over his body. {7:5} So, do not fail in your
obligations to one another, except perhaps by consent, for a
limited time, so that you may empty yourselves for prayer.
And then, return together again, lest Satan tempt you by
means of your abstinence. {7:6} But I am saying this, neither
as an indulgence, nor as a commandment. {7:7} For I would
prefer it if you were all like myself. But each person has his
proper gift from God: one in this way, yet another in that​

way.


So Paul says that he would rather that men be like him, celibates, and when he says that bishops should be married with only one woman is to forbid a bishop with more than one, not to ban celibate bishops.
​

​

Paul says that Bishops should be married with only one woman, and he said it because many men were maried with many women, but he stresses that he would like that everybody should be like him, Celibate.

Paul didn't stress, he wished and also made it clear that he was speaking of himself not of the Lord. he also made it clear that if one wished to get married, then they were free to do so.

 

[Michie]

It is always called a discipline in the RCC but if it were truly a discipline & not dogma shouldn't there be a choice?

 

[Sasquatchit]

But where in the Bible does it say that Pastors, or Bishops - Priests are not to have a wife? Didn't most of the 12 Apostles have wives?

There is no scripture commanding them to be celebate. This was an addition to His word.

Rev. 22:18-19 regarding adding or taking away from the Scripture.

 

[Michie]

Phht..

 

[Sasquatchit]

I had a priest who traveled 25 minutes to come to my home and bless it. [3 years ago]
The previous priest couldnt keep his head screwed on if it werent attached so i never asked him.
The previous one to him was booked. Flying solo - he had a retreat center to do and when he did a Mass - it was standing room only.
Too many folks to attend to - so i didnt ask him either.

Being single leaves them free to pray and do sacraments wherever needed - but it doesnt always help them get dinner on the table, and multi-task as it is with a wife.

So it depends on their personality more than their office or being married or not.

Can u back this up with Scripture?

 

[Dylan Michael]

There is no scripture commanding them to be celebate. This was an addition to His word.

Rev. 22:18-19 regarding adding or taking away from the Scripture.

1. We're not Sola Scriptura.
2. Rev. 22:18-19 refers specifically to the book of Revelation.

 

[Michie]

Can u back this up with Scripture?

You cannot debate Catholic faith & belief in this forum.

 

[Fantine]

I think it had something to do with the practice of primogeniture. The oldest son of a nobleman would inherit all the property, but what could the younger ones do? They couldn't just become serfs; they just couldn't.

Downward mobility nobility--oh, no! They couldn't cope.

And so they became priests--a very respectable position for a penniless nobleman second son.

Except for feudalism, it probably never would have happened.

 

[Virgil the Roman]

But where in the Bible does it say that Pastors, or Bishops - Priests are not to have a wife? Didn't most of the 12 Apostles have wives?

St Paul admonishes others to be as he is, 'unmarried'. Why shouldn't the singles persue the vocation of celibacy. The priesthood is a very difficult job and requires a great deal of sacrifice. It's not a nice cushy job. It's very low monetarily paying job. It pays heaps in spiritual benefits; but then again, Jesus said that, "My Kingdom is not of this world."

 

[Luther073082]

On one hand priests being celibate does give them more time to devote to the church and it's mission.

On the other hand quite frankly having a married pastor allows them to relate better to the married adults in the church.

I could not see myself going to a person who's never been married for advice regarding my marriage or family.

I honestly don't have a huge problem with how Latin-Rite Catholic's do it since it's considered a discipline and not doctrine. Because of this it wouldn't really make my list of disagreements with the Roman Catholic Church.

 

[Needing_Grace]

Can u back this up with Scripture?

It's doctrinal adiaphora (something neither commanded nor forbidden by scripture) whether or not a priest is able to marry. In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, the discipline is that priests are unmarried unless they are former pastors in other ecclesial bodies who have come into the Church under the special dispensations in which this can happen.

There are other Rites where a married man can become a priest but never is it so that a man who is already a priest can get married after receiving his ordination.

 

[sonshine234]

Can u back this up with Scripture?

Now, to the unmarried and to the widows I say that it would be better for you to continue to live alone as I do.

1 Cor 1:8