The call to Holy Orders is a life choice. Providing a marriage clause in the Catechism is not the proper recruitment tool for seminaries. Perhaps, a few priests have made mistakes resulting from unmet human sexual desires inherent in their celibate lifestyles, but the mistakes of a few humans should not lead to a change in the spiritual center of life for millions of people.
As a practicing Catholic, I do not feel that the unchanging nature of the Catholic Church has affected the people of that Church in such a way as to demand a Vatican III-esque amendment. Allowing priests to marry will not prevent the rare problem of pedophilia and instead will distract priests from the original intention of their lives to serve the church and its people.
Priests, in essence, are married to the church when they take their vows. When a man marries a woman, he pledges to hold and protect her until death. A priest is similarly responsible for the members of his congregation. In these instances, the parties should provide complete love, respect and devotion to the other.
If allowed to marry and have a family, a priest would have to split this love and devotion. An unmarried priest concentrates wholly on his priestly duties and completes those duties attentively, whereas a married priest must have two priorities – his family and his congregation – and therefore cannot focus only on his priesthood. In 1 Corinthians, Paul tells us that, I should like you to be free of auxiliaries. An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about things of the world, how he may please his wife, and his he is divided? (7:32-34). Neither doctrine nor dogma in the Catholic Church states that priests should be celibate. However, the choice to live a celibate life is simply part of the deal, and all priests willingly make this decision.
Lea Witkowski
Mass Communication
Sophomore