For the first time in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, a cardinal from the Western Hemisphere, and particularly from the continent of South America, has succeeded his predecessor as pope. On Wednesday March 13th, after being secluded in the Vatican’s secret Sistine Chapel for two days – through a popular vote known as a conclave – 76-year-old Argentine cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio emerged as “Francesca Papa”, Pope Francis. He was officially inaugurated as the 266th pontiff at St. Peters Basilica in Rome on Tuesday, March 19th.
Pope Francis, who now replaces Pope Benedict XVI as the head of the Catholic Church, has admirably chosen his pontiff name as a representative of the world’s poor class. His apparent intent is to mirror the renowned St. Francis of Assisi who was known for his simplicity, humility, and his keen willingness to identify with the poor. Legend states that it was given to Francis of Assisi, by a visionary revelation, the divine command to rebuild the church of his day. Pope Francis, it is said, must have had a similar vision to restructure the church of today.
Normally, a new pope is only elected when an incumbent dies. But former Pope Benedict complained that his ill-health was creating a barrier against his effective service to the church, and so he consequently elected to relinquish his post. Notwithstanding, critical observers of the church allege that it is the church’s poor spiritual health, with regard to frequent scandalous reports of malicious priests interfering with young boys, which served as the prime factor for influencing the former pope’s resignation.
So why is the Roman Catholic Church so frequently shaken by scandals of malicious priests who indulge in the sexual molestation of boys? Most likely it is because they have no other way of releasing their sexual urges. For one, Catholic priests don’t have wives; secondly, it would be a sinful transgression, of course, for priests to engage in sexual acts with women to whom they are not married. That would be tantamount to fornication which is intolerable and would likely result in excommunication. But didn’t the Bible recommend that in order to avoid fornication let every man have his own wife? That “every man” factor does not exclude priests. When man-made canons and creeds of the church contain rules that negate the principles of God’s word, or when God’s word becomes secondary to church doctrine, then we are definitely exposing ourselves to trouble.
But I have always sought to understand the real reason why priests, especially in the Roman Catholic circles, are bound to exercise the tasks of their ministry without marrying. Traditionally, celibacy has been a requirement of all catholic priests. Celibacy is defined by two prime characteristics: (1) abstinence from sexual intercourse, especially by reason of a religious vow; (2) the condition of being unmarried, and being bound by a vow to remain single.
Catholic deacons are allowed to marry, yes, but not catholic priests. Therefore, the reality is that priests, under what I consider to be crude religious orders, are denied the privilege of sexual fulfillment. Why? The reason evades me. I reckon that the only reason why priests can’t marry is because the promoters of Catholicism have ruled so throughout the centuries. It is said that in the first century, the first “pope” St. Peter, as well as all of Jesus’ apostles, were for the most part married men. But by the fifth century, the Nicean Creed dictated by decree that once ordained a priest cannot marry. By the sixth century, Pope Gregory “the great” ruled that sexual desire is sinful in itself, and it is intrinsically evil. By the eleventh century, Pope Benedict IX had dispensed himself from celibacy and resigned from the papacy in order to marry. In that same century, though, in 1074, Pope Gregory VII stressed a binding doctrine which stated that if any man is to be ordained, he must first pledge celibacy and potential priests must first “escape from the clutches of their wives” before they can be actually ordained as priests.
I realize that an unmarried servant of God would be disposed to give more efficient attention to serving God with more effectiveness, generally. At least he won’t be hampered by the constraints of caring for a wife and having to deal with the rigors of family life. Yes! But that in no way means that a Catholic priest can’t serve God if he is married. Denying a priest marriage gives him no provisional means of venting sexual pressures. Priests in the Anglican churches do wed, enjoy intimate relations with their wives, and have families. And this does not inhibit them from being dutiful in their ministries. Pastors, evangelists, prophets, apostles, biblical teachers and other church leaders marry as well, and they perform their ministerial tasks with just as much fervor as the unmarried. Is effective service to Christ and His church assigned to the Catholic religion only? Absolutely not!
In my view, this restriction which serves as a key part of formidable Catholic “doctrine” makes a blatant mockery of both marriage and the church. The fact that sexual release for priests has been historically suppressed, gives rise to the reason for much rancor, scandal and unpleasant misgivings in Catholic circles today, where scores of priests have interfered with young males of relatively tender ages. But, I don’t really blame the priests in such cases; instead, I criticize the system. A man needs affection, intimacy and sexual release.
Ministry at best can be the cause of great lonesomeness. Priests are lonely men who need companionship. And if they don’t find the benefits of that companionship through the natural means which God has provided – the company of the woman – then they will certainly gravitate towards taking advantage of those innocent, vulnerable boys whom they mentor, and who are advantageously closest to them.
The system of Catholicism would do well to realize that in the beginning God made mankind as both male and female. One of the main reasons why He created us as such is that both man and woman would complement one another sexually. Apart from nature, even technology, architecture, and physics allude to the identity of God’s creation when reference is made to certain pieces of equipment – a male this; and a female that. For example, if one is in the process of having a house built and goes to the hardware store with a list of plumbing items, he or she is required to purchase a specified quantity of “male” and “female” fittings, as instructed by the plumber doing the job on the house. One would be fool-hardy to hold the list in hand at the store and deliberately purchase all “male” fittings, and no “female” counterparts as receptacles into which the male fittings would be inserted. And, of course, any plumber would have a right to deduce that such a one whose house he is working on is crazy.
God in His wisdom created His creatures, and particularly humanity, with the appropriate equipment and furnishings that would satisfy their sexual cravings. Priests, like all men, have sexual desires too. Like everyone else, priests were not created with a celibate nature, or as eunuchs for that matter. They were created as human, birthed as babies, and caused to develop naturally and grow with all the chemical hormones, biological features, and sexual drives like all ordinary men. To impose the principles of celibacy on a man just because he is ordained to the priesthood is to fly in the face of God. It is to throw away the God-given virtues and the ability to function sexually as God designed it. To impose celibacy on a man who enlists in the Catholic priesthood is to deliberately abandon or suppress the precious gift of sexual capability installed by the Creator as a built-in feature of man in the first place. And yes, it does open up the clergy to the risks of pedophiliac priests.
While it is true that not every man will marry, while it is a fact that there are those men who have committed their lives to strict service for the work of ministry, and while they are those who by nature allow their lives to coincide with 1 Corinthians 7:33 which states that the unmarried man care more about the things of God, by the same token priests are not supernal or celestial beings. They are men with common sexual needs just like any other regular man.
Upon the election of the newly installed Pope Francis, pundits were inquiring whether he would begin to reform the Catholic faith by permitting all liberal gays to marry; whether he would seek to relax the church’s stance on abortion and contraception; or whether he would seek to get women more involved as priests, and enable them to function in more meaningful ministerial positions in the church. In my opinion, all of the above is superfluous.
I am convinced that Pope Francis, as long as he is tuned in to the will of God, would never stoop so low as to condone the wholesale marriage of gays which courts in several jurisdictions world-wide have already ruled on anyway. But, the pope does need to clean house, and if he is to restructure the church he must do whatever it takes to remove the scandal from the church’s beleaguered priests. Far too long now priests have fallen prey to sinful acts of homosexuality with young boys as a result of the church’s restriction on priests to marry. To turn around that age-old scourge of sexual bondage would be a great plus for the church, as it would give priests much needed relief as they serve the Lord in ministry together with their wives.
As he exercises his qualities of humility, simplicity and love for the poor, may Pope Francis also allow practical common sense and the wisdom of the omniscient creator to prevail over engrained man-made creeds and traditions like celibacy. May he do so, if for nothing else, for the improvement of the church’s image. By the way, congratulations to all Latin Americans on the occasion of the world’s newly installed Argentine pontiff. May God continue to inspire and bless him, and may he in turn make himself a blessing to others.
