“Dear Francis, we are in love with a priest, please review the celibacy law” “For now, I am in favour of maintaining celibacy, with all the pros and cons that some with it, because in ten centuries there have been more positive experiences than errors… Tradition plays an important role. Catholic ministers gradually chose celibacy. Until 1100 some opted for it and some didn’t … it is a question of discipline, not faith. It can be changed. Personally I never considered marrying.” What the future Pope could not tolerate was priests living double lives. “If someone comes to me and tells me he has got a woman pregnant, I listen to him, try to calm him and slowly I begin to explain to him that natural right to life comes before his rights as a priest. He therefore has a duty to leave the ministry and take care of his child, even if he decides not to marry the woman. Because that child has as much right to a father who is physically present as it does to a mother. I will take care of all the paperwork in Rome, but you must leave everything. Now, if a priest tells me he was overcome by passion, that he made a mistake, then I help him to correct this mistake. Some priests change their ways, others don’t. Some sadly don’t even tell the bishop.” Changing one’s ways involves “penance and respect for celibacy. Living a double life is not good for us, I don’t like it, it means being false. Sometimes I tell them: “If you are not able to take it, make a decision.” With regards to celibacy, it is important to note that although Benedict XVI did not alter the traditional position espoused by his predecessors and the Synods of Bishops, in November 2009 opened a small window of opportunity which was nevertheless restricted to Anglican communities intent on entering into communion with the Catholic Church. That year, Benedict XVI promulgated the Apostolic Constitution “Anglicanorum Coetibus”, establishing the Anglo-Catholic Ordinariates. In the second paragraph of Article 6 of the Constitution, having previously emphasized the celibacy rule for the future, the German Pope mentioned the possibility of “admi[tting] married men to the order of presbyter on a case by case basis, according to objective criteria approved by the Holy See.” As is the case in the Orthodox and Eastern Churches in communion with Rome, ordained priests have never been allowed marry. Men can be admitted to the priesthood if already married (though never the Episopate).
Posted on: Tue, 20 May 2014 12:08:04 +0000
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