Courtney McGrailWe should repeal the Church law that priests must remain unmarried, writes Fr Des Wilson
Fr Des Wilson
To marry is a human right and we cannot forbid anyone to marry: but we tell a Catholic priest that if he marries he will no longer be supported by his Church, removing him from his priestly ministry, way of life, livelihood and community.
But this rule can be changed without loss to theology or canon law, and, if we wait too long, the decision may be made for the Church by outside forces.
What seemed only a matter of theology, Church history and law is, in time, going to be seen also as a matter of human rights and equality and understood in terms of discrimination. Civil law and canon law will be in conflict and civil law will win.
In England a married Anglican clergyman who converts to Catholicism can become a parish priest in a Catholic parish while nearby there is a Catholic priest who, if he marries, will have to leave his ministry, forfeit his livelihood and find his own way to serve God’s people.
This is a case of two neighbours being treated differently, not because one is doing something unbecoming, but because, in my view, a Church law discriminates against one of them.
Discrimination
If a Catholic priest in these circumstances were to bring a case under legislation prohibiting discrimination before the civil courts based on theology, Church law or history the court will probably reject it. Every association has rules and a priest has contracted to keep this one.
But, what about when the rule can be deemed to be discriminatory – applying to one person and not another without adequate reason. Both have been accepted by the Church as adequate to be ordained as priests.
Is the married former Anglican priest at one end of a village more apt for spiritual enrichment than the cradle Catholic priest at the other end? If a priest decides to marry and asks his congregation: “do you still want me as your pastor?” it is reasonable to think that a congregation would often say “yes”.
Of course, great good is done by generous people who give up the possibility of marriage and family for God and their neighbour. But, enforced virtue commands obedience rather than generous giving.
We say the Lord created us with free will so we can better deserve the reward of a generous life: a reward for obedience is fine; a reward for generous giving is richer.
St Paul the Apostle hoped Christians would not appeal to the civil courts as if we were opponents rather than Christ’s brothers and sisters.
There was probably never a time when there were such intrusive everyday inducements to relationships with sexual intercourse as a preliminary rather than a climax of love: through films, television, plays and books. There is great emotional and intellectual stress on many people and very much so on priests who are legally-bound to celibacy. We should consider that legal compulsion may reduce and even destroy generosity, paralysing it and replacing it with anxiety and frustration.
Laws should change when circumstances change. The highly-charged sexual atmosphere of our social life now changes circumstances radically.
There has not yet been a frank and open discussion of what it means for our Catholic Church to have clergy with a choice of marrying or not. We now need such a discussion – we have the maturity to discuss the issue whether we are against a change with the resultant inconsistencies that involves, or for a change with the expense and shift in Church administration to which such a change would lead.
Discussion
Much discussion is going on already. But, refusing to engage in open and frank discussion is unbecoming for us who believe the Holy Spirit is our inspiration. It silences the best arguments on all sides, nobody’s wits get sharpened and we take to murmuring banalities to one another.
Celibacy is not better or worse than marriage. Marriage, with the intention of procreating, is better in that it fulfils one of the Creator’s purposes which celibacy does not – but every good thing, including marriage and family, may be given up by those who believe something more creative can be achieved and gifted by that. Most people who give up the possibility of marriage and family are not priests or members of religious orders, they do it to look after other people in need of their care. These are supernaturally generous people.
An extremely relevant issue in this matter is Church administration. Currently, bishops can move clergy from place to place as required. This is obviously easier as priests are unmarried. But, when a priest is married there has to be wider consultation with his spouse and family about education, community relationships, for much more than courtesy’s sake.
Financial changes in Church administration would also have to be taken on board and this all takes time. Needs and possibilities change and we change our world to enrich the personal and communal life of all God’s people.
Some bishops have said that if priests were ‘allowed to marry’ they would find that acceptable. This means the episcopate will leave the decision to the Pope, so when a new Pope is elected change in the law may once again be pushed into the future, leaving it for courts of human rights to regulate matters; centralising of decision-making in the Church will be strengthened, bishops will be weaker instruments of government than hitherto fore and creative discussion in the Church will languish.
We have been blessed in our Church with supernaturally generous people. Their generosity can be enriched by our generosity, rather then controlled by our law.
Fr Des Wilson is a priest of the Diocese of Down and Connor.
