Fr. Lauret, in trying to defend the discipline of the Latin Church, goes too far in his argument and tries to rope the Eastern Churches into his position to disastrous results.
ROME, MARCH 9, 2010 (Zenit.org) - Married priests are an exception and the Church is increasingly convinced that they must remain so, according to a spiritual theology professor at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.
Father Laurent Touze explained the foundations of priestly celibacy when he spoke at a two-day conference held last week at Rome's Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. The conference, "Priestly Celibacy: Theology and Life," was sponsored by the Congregation for the Clergy as an event for the Year for Priests.
ZENIT spoke with Father Touze about the exceptions to priestly celibacy and the future of celibacy for the Church.
ZENIT: Is celibacy a dogma of faith or a discipline?
Father Touze: Neither one nor the other. It isn't a dogma of faith because we see married priests in the Church today such as, for example, some [priests] of the Eastern Catholic Church. Not all but some admit married priests. Or as has been reminded recently in the Holy Father's motu propio "Anglicanorum coetibus," published last Nov. 4: Among the ex-Anglicans who want to return to communion with the Catholic Church, there will be married priests admitted.
ZENIT: With this measure, do you think that one day, celibacy might become voluntary also for priests of the Latin rite?
Father Touze: No, because the Church is understanding more and more the relation between priesthood, episcopate and celibacy. It is something that could be likened to the revelation of a dogma, though it isn't so at this time; one tends increasingly to understand that a practice must be promoted among all priests and also among Eastern Catholic priests which is truly similar to the one lived in the first centuries. Patently ridiculous. One would hope he would have learned from the lessons of the American Byzantines and their loss of tens of thousands due to the treatment of their married priests by Latin bishops.
ZENIT: But in the first centuries there were many married priests, including the Apostles?
Father Touze: Studies have convincingly shown that this must be questioned: Celibacy of all clerics wasn't lived, but from the moment of inclusion in the priestly order these men had to live continence with the permission of their wives, because this was a commitment of the couple.
ZENIT: Why, then, are exceptions made?
Father Touze: Historically because there has been a manipulation of texts and I believe a bad translation that the Eastern Church, which has separated from Rome and has recognized that what they had declared contrary to tradition, could be accepted. In this connection there truly are some exceptions. The Church discovered that she had the possibility of admitting exceptions but that these should be understood as such. Respectably, as the Second Vatican Council stressed, there are very holy married priests in the Eastern Catholic Churches who have contributed much to the history of the Church and to the faith in times of persecution, but they are truly exceptions and must be understood as such. I think I'll call the Eastern Catholic priests I know "Fr. Exception" from now on.
ZENIT: However, these exceptions are not made with bishops. Does episcopal celibacy have a special meaning?
Father Touze: Undoubtedly. It is very different, both theologically as well as historically. What's more, with the constitution "Lumen Gentium," Vatican II defined that the episcopate is the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders. It is necessary to discover the specificity of the episcopate and, hence, episcopal celibacy. And it can be demonstrated with the fact that for the celibacy or continence of a bishop an exception has never been made.
This is something studied by the Church on which the Roman pontificate has had to reflect more recently in contemporary history on two occasions: after the French Revolution, where some bishops, or better, former bishops, asked to marry.
This has been studied and it has been said that it is impossible, that this had never been done, that at stake was the dogmatic issue. Or still recently with the ordination of married men and married bishops that were effected in former Czechoslovakia by imposition or with the pressure of the Communist Party in power. There also the Church affirmed on the fact that the bishop must always be celibate or if he had married before his ordination because he would have to live continence from the moment of his episcopal ordination.
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This article is of a piece with an increasing, and dangerous, movement on the part of more and more Latins to equate "ontologically" celibacy with priesthood, such that the very being of the latter is defective if missing the former. on this, see Basilo Petra's recent article in the 50th volume, nos. 3-4 (2009) of LOGOS: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies. He unearths some real absurdities.
ReplyDeleteThis priest claims celibacy "could be likened to the revelation of a dogma, though it isn't so at this time." This is also of a piece with an increasing, and even more dangerous, tendency on the part of some Latins to view dogmas as playthings that one can confect when the mood strikes. In this regard, cf. recent and ongoing agitations to dogmatize certain claims about the Theotokos--co-redemptrix, etc. One papal-dogmatic move along these lines in either direction--celibacy or Mary--would blow up, for a century or more, all good will so painstakingly established with the Orthodox over the last generation. And for what? To "prove" the Latins are right? To declare victory in establishing that their heavily fetishized local tradition is somehow universal and superior? Are these people for real??
If Zenit were a real news organization, instead of the propaganda arm of a certain strain of ideological Catholicism, they would not have let this priest get away with claiming that "Studies have convincingly shown that this must be questioned: Celibacy of all clerics wasn't lived, but from the moment of inclusion in the priestly order these men had to live continence with the permission of their wives, because this was a commitment of the couple." There are no such studies--he's just made this up. And then he continues: "Historically because there has been a manipulation of texts and I believe a bad translation that the Eastern Church, which has separated from Rome and has recognized that what they had declared contrary to tradition, could be accepted." Au contraire: it is precisely the Latins who have been manipulating texts or tendentiously interpreting them. This shell-game was given away by one of their former apologists and propagandists, who finally retracted his efforts: I refer, of course, to Roman Cholij.
He ends by reiterating in stronger terms, with reference to episcopal celibacy, "that at stake was the dogmatic issue." That's just nonsense on stilts. There's no dogma here at all--it's purely "disciplinary" just as it is with priests. The apostles were married, and a legitimately married episcopate (i.e., as opposed to concubines and fornication after promises of celibacy became common in the west from the 11th century onward) is common until at least the 4th century. There was no "dogmatic" issue, and there is none today.
Why Latins persist in banging on this issue, when there are so many other more crucial problems today, is a mystery to me. One feels the urge to repeat to them the counsel of the famously taciturn Clement Atlee in responding to the latest litany of leftist agit-prop from Harold Laski: "a period of silence from you would be most welcome."
"Why Latins persist in banging on this issue"
ReplyDeleteNot all do. I don't. I do think Fr. Lauret goes way too far here.
"some Latins to view dogmas as playthings that one can confect when the mood strikes."
The movement to formally define coredemptrix is not as trivial as this. However, I seriously doubt Pope Benedict will do it, precisely because of the reasons you mentioned, namely, that work and good relations with the Eastern Orthodox churches is an important theme in his pontificate. But we would do well, whether Eastern or Western, to not lump various Christians together and reduce them to meaningless caricature.
Alan's point is well taken. I'd like to think Adam's point was expository of a popular movement and not of the Latin Church entire.
ReplyDeleteThis is sad. Rather than just say this is the preferred discipline of the Church for the current time (which has been the normal statement), Fr. Touze attempts to move scholarship to reflect his own perspective. This ripple effects of this particular interview cannot be overlooked as the Roman Catholic Church seeks closer ties to the Orthodox Churches and the Traditional Anglicans (who have recently requested formal entrance into the Catholic Church).
ReplyDeleteAnd even if it were that true that the episcopacy is the fullness of the sacrament, certainly you cannot force everyone to agree with you based on the strengths of your own say so. Not only that, but not all men will be priests and not all priest will be bishops. This mysterious harm to holy orders is merely a straw man. If anything the eradication of the married priesthood has led to the weakening of the Eastern Catholic Church in the United States.
Frankly, rather than a detracting from the spiritual life of the Church, married priests bring something to the table that has been sorely missing in varying degrees in the quarters of the Roman Catholic Church for the last 60 years or so: manly men.
By minimizing the married clergy, Fr. Touze regrettably overlooks that contribution that a married priest and his family provide to the Church. Priest families live their lives in the Church and in sacrifice for Christ. And just like father are not mothers, Fathers are not Matushkas. these first families of the church give so much and can be real blessings to the people. No more of that, "that's great for Fr. So n'so, but he doesn't have to deal with XYZ."
Holy celibacy is a beautiful thing, but Fr. Touze really misses the opportunity to capitalize on the uniqueness of the celibate vocation in this interview.