In surprise, Benedict openly
defends clerical celibacy as
Francis considers married priests
National Catholic Reporter,
by
Joshua J. McElwee
Original Article
Posted By: Pluperfect,
1/13/2020 4:14:45 AM
Vatican City — Retired Pope Benedict XVI has coauthored a new book defending the Catholic Church's practice of a celibate priesthood, in a shocking move that comes as Pope Francis is considering the possibility of allowing older, married men to be ordained as priests in the Amazon region.
According to excerpts from the volume released Jan. 12 by the conservative French outlet Le Figaro, the ex-pontiff says he could not remain silent on the issue as Francis is contemplating the move, which was requested by the bishops from the nine-nation Amazon region at October's Vatican synod gathering.
The book is co-written with Cardinal Robert Sarah,
Reply 1 - Posted by:
4Justice 1/13/2020 4:56:31 AM (No. 286869)
I like Benedict and hate Francis. However, the whole reason they stopped allowing priests to marry in the 11th century is because the church did not want to let the property and wealth go to the offspring of the clergy. It was all about greed...accumulating and keeping wealth in the church. They came up with an excuse about keeping focus on spiritual life and some other nonsense, but the truth is it was mainly about wealth and power. If you want to.believe the excuses and maintain priests shouldn't marry, then remember the scandals he church has had with pedophiles and homosexuals over the years. It is not natural for a healthy male human to remain celibate forever and I really doubt God would expect such behavior from priests. There is nothing in scripture that says priests should remain celibate.
7 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
MSUDoc 1/13/2020 5:45:26 AM (No. 286885)
Oh stop it. Public school teachers are married and all allowed to marry, yet their problems with child sexual abuse completely dwarf that of the Catholic church.
It’s not a celibacy problem in the RCC. It’s a homosexuality problem, both with perpetrators and with those who cover it up. In other words, it’s a sin problem.
18 people like this.
Only one is the true Pope. The other is a fraud at best, dangerous and full of contempt for the Church at worst - with anger issues ..he rages in private and barely contains contempt in public. And Benedict has let out signs that he knows he is still Pope, like little missives from behind prison walls. See Barnhart.biz.
15 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
petrichor 1/13/2020 6:32:13 AM (No. 286906)
In reply to 4Justice, if the widow retains the rectory then I suppose it's up to the congregation to purchase a new rectory. Does that make sense?
2 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Doconc 1/13/2020 6:55:30 AM (No. 286925)
Bring back Benedict. Frank is a fraud
Celibacy is a sacrifice to serve God.
11 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
TexasRose 1/13/2020 7:21:28 AM (No. 286952)
I Timothy 4: 1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3 men who FORBID MARRIAGE and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.
Luke 4: 38 Jesus left the synagogue and went to Simon’s [Peter] house. Simon’s MOTHER=IN-LAW was very sick. She had a high fever. They asked Jesus to do something to help her. 39 He stood very close to her and ordered the sickness to go away. The sickness left her, and she got up and began serving them.
1 Peter 2: 4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 YOU also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a HOLY PRIESTHOOD, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.... 9 But YOU are a chosen race, a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that YOU may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light... .
3 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
dovestar 1/13/2020 9:11:53 AM (No. 287089)
For the ill-informed, Catholic priests have the role of being in persona Christi in the Sacrifice of the Mass, Confession and elsewhere. They are ALREADY married, to the Bride of Christ, the Church. The Church has ALWAYS had members of clergy and laity that gave themselves totally to God and remained celibate. Read the stories of the saints. Just because people of the modern era no longer value sexual purity doesn't mean man and woman are incapable of it.
6 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Chuzzles 1/13/2020 9:28:57 AM (No. 287130)
Going against the natural order of things, like men having urges to be with a woman, is why the church has a real problem with pedophilia, and has for decades. Letting married men become priests is a great way to fix that problem, and the Vatican would not be complaining about the lack of priests anymore either. There are plenty of retired men out there who would dearly love to serve their church, but the dated thinking of the Vatican prevents them from doing so.
1 person likes this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
udanja99 1/13/2020 9:47:25 AM (No. 287170)
#8, please reread post #2. The vast vast majority of sexual abuse victims have been adolescent boys.
5 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
InsaneSanity2 1/13/2020 10:02:59 AM (No. 287197)
4Justice, you are being hypocritical. I bet you do everything to keep your property and wealth in the family, but yet that is not fine for the Catholic Church in your mind.
“Some men are incapable of sexual activity from birth; some have been deliberately made so; and some there are who have freely renounced sex for the sake of God’s reign.” (Matthew 19:3-12)
Last time I checked, Jesus was unmarried and celibate, as was St. Paul. So to insist that this is "not natural" indicts Jesus and Paul - a position I would advise not taking.
3 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
JHHolliday 1/13/2020 1:25:52 PM (No. 287440)
#1 is correct. Money was the reason for celibacy. I don't like the current Pope but I think he is right here. Somehow, the Church and its seminaries got infested with homosexual men, a lot of them technically ephebophiles (homosexual men sexually obsessed with young men and boys). Allowing priests to marry will change this. It will take years and years but it will be a change for the better.
0 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
DVC 1/13/2020 1:33:52 PM (No. 287455)
Benedict is still the real pope. Francis is the Destroyer.
4 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Aubreyesque 1/13/2020 2:18:29 PM (No. 287493)
Funny how no one notices that Episcopalian and/or Anglican PRIESTS can be married and they do just fine.
Funny how no one points out that a number of Protestant demonimations have ministers who are married...and they do just fine.
Funny how its never noticed that JEWISH RABBIS are (IIRC) required to be married before becoming rabbis...and they've done TERRIFICALLY for FIVE THOUSAND YEARS.
Ive always thought it very weird to say that marriage is the "solution" to paedophilia when there are NUMEROUS cases of child sex abuse going on in families all the time. HOWEVER, I also think it ridiculous to say that priests are incapable of being married. That's a political decision on the part of a church, not a Bible related one. A Christian priest exists because of the Apostolic Succession, not because they hold celibacy higher than marriage.
1 person likes this.
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How many popes can the Church sustain at one time?