After I expressed my surprise at the number of hits received by my post on clerical celibacy, a friend wrote suggesting I read Garry Wills’ Papal Sins. (http://www.amazon.com/Papal-Sin-Structures-Garry-Wills/dp/0385494114). Wills argues that clerical celibacy was strictly imposed in order to protect Church property which was rapidly being disseminated among children of the clergy. This distribution was not only impoversishing the Church, but also diluted her political and economic power.
I would like to see the Catholic Church permit married priests, but do not want to distort the argument with erroneous historical arguments. Garry Wills is a greatly respected Catholic writer, however, so I have made an effort to fill in my scant knowledge of the history of Catholic celibacy before jumping on his band wagon.
I’ve reached the conclusion that Wills makes a valid point, and that the plethora of benefices going to children of the clergy along with widespread clerical corruption stiffened the resolve of the hierarchy toward imposing and enforcing the consequences of celibacy on the clergy. However, a special regard for priestly celibacy goes as far back as St. Paul’s Epistle to the Corinthians. Over the centuries, the imposition of clerical celibacy has varied both in terms of law and of observance, but it was not a new idea thought up during the Middle Ages when the Catholic Church was the richest landowner in Europe. For anyone interested, what seems to me a refreshingly balanced view on the history of celibacy in the Church is presented in the Catholic Encyclopaedia on line (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03481a.htm ).
As I said before, I myself do not think clerical celibacy is serving the Church and the community well today. But I have little doubt that there have been thousands of dedicated men who have entered the priesthood over the centuries and who remained celibate at great personal sacrifice motivated by love of God. For them it was not a cynical economic or political ploy.
That doesn’t change my view, though, that for many priests today, celibacy allows them to remain coddled in a cocoon of immaturity.
