A contribution on priestly
celibacy in filial obedience to the Pope
 |
| deacons being ordained to the priesthood |
A book by the Pope emeritus and the Cardinal Prefect of the
Congregation for Divine Worship addresses a theme on which Pope Francis has
expressed himself several times.
Andrea Tornielli
A book on the priesthood that bears the signatures of Pope
emeritus Joseph Ratzinger and of Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the
Congregation for Divine Worship, will be released in France on 15 January. The
pre-publication material provided by Le Figaro shows that with
their contribution, the authors are entering into the debate on celibacy and
the possibility of ordaining married men as priests. Ratzinger and Sarah — who
describe themselves as two Bishops “in filial obedience to Pope Francis” who
“are seeking the truth” in “a spirit of love for the unity of the Church” —
defend the discipline of celibacy and put forth the reasons that they feel
counsel against changing it. The question of celibacy occupies 175 pages of the
volume, with two texts — one from the Pope emeritus and the other from the
Cardinal — together with an introduction and a conclusion signed by both.
In his text, Cardinal Sarah recalls that “there is an
ontological-sacramental link between priesthood and celibacy. Any weakening of
this link would put into question the Magisterium of the [Second Vatican]
Council and Popes Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. I implore Pope
Francis to protect us definitively from such a possibility by vetoing any
weakening of the law of priestly celibacy, even if limited to one region
another”. Further, Sarah goes so far as to describe the possibility of
ordaining married men as “a pastoral catastrophe, an ecclesiological confusion
and an obscuring of the understanding of the priesthood”. In his brief
contribution, Benedict XVI, reflecting on the subject, goes back to the Jewish
roots of Christianity, affirming that from the beginning of God’s “new
covenant” with humanity, which was established by Jesus, priesthood and
celibacy are united. He recalls that already “in the ancient Church”, that is,
in the first millennium, “married men could receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders
only if they committed themselves to sexual abstinence”.
Priestly celibacy is not, and has never been, a dogma. It is
an ecclesiastical discipline of the Latin Church that represents a precious
gift, as all the recent Pontiffs have affirmed. The Catholic Eastern-Rite
Churches allow the possibility of ordaining married men as priests. Exceptions
have also been admitted in the Latin Church by Benedict XVI himself in the
Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, dedicated to Anglican
priests who seek communion with the Catholic Church, which provides for “the admission
of married men to the order of presbyter on a case by case basis, according to
objective criteria approved by the Holy See”.
It is also worth remembering that Pope Francis has also
expressed himself several times on the subject. While yet a Cardinal, in the
book conversation with Rabbi Abraham Skorka, he explained that he was in favor
of maintaining celibacy: “with all the pros and cons entailed, in ten centuries
there have been more positive experiences than there have been errors.
Tradition has a weight and validity”. In dialogue with journalists on the
flight back from Panama last January, the Pope recalled that in the Eastern
Catholic Churches the option of either celibacy or marriage before the
diaconate is possible; but he added, regarding the Latin Church: “I am reminded
of that phrase of Saint Paul VI: ‘I would rather give my life than change the
law on celibacy. It came to mind and I want to say it, because it is a
courageous phrase, in a more difficult moment than this, 1968 / 1970... Personally,
I think that celibacy is a gift for the Church. Second, I don’t agree with
allowing optional celibacy, no.” In his reply, he also spoke about the
discussion among theologians about the possibility of granting exemptions for
some remote regions, such as the Pacific islands. He specified, however,
“there’s no decision on my part. My decision is: optional celibacy before the
diaconate, no. That’s something for me, something personal, I won’t do it, this
remains clear. Am I ‘closed’? Maybe. But I don’t want to appear before God with
this decision”.
The Synod on the Amazon was held in October 2019, and the
topic was debated there. As can be seen from the final document, there were
bishops who asked for the possibility of ordaining married permanent deacons as
priests. It is striking, however, that on 26 October, in his concluding speech,
the Pope, after having followed all the stages of the speeches and discussion
in the hall, did not mention in any way the subject of the ordination of
married men, not even in passing. Instead, he recalled the four dimensions of
the Synod: that of inculturation; the ecological dimension; the social
dimension; and finally the pastoral dimension, which “includes them all”. In
that same speech, the Pontiff spoke about creativity in new ministries, and the
role of women; and referring to the scarcity of clergy in certain mission
areas, he recalled that there are many priests from a certain country who have
gone to the first world, for example, the United States and Europe, and “there
are not enough of them to send them out to the Amazon region of that same
country”.
Finally, it is significant that Pope Francis, while thanking
the media, also asked a favour of them at the same time: “that in their
dissemination of the Final Document, they would focus above all on the
diagnosis which is the more significant part, the part in which the Synod truly
expressed itself best: cultural diagnosis, social diagnosis, pastoral
diagnosis and ecological diagnosis”. The Pope then invited them not to fall
into the danger of focusing on “which party won and which one lost” when looking
at what was decided concerning disciplinary issues.
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