Frequently asked questions about Optional Celibacy and the Priest Shortage
Question: Hasn’t the Church always valued a celibate priesthood? How can this change?
Reply: Mandatory priestly celibacy is not a doctrine of the Church but a rule or discipline. As such, it can change at any time. Since celibacy is a gift from the Holy Spirit, it will not disappear. It will always have an honored place in Catholicism. It is a distortion of the charism of celibacy to demand it of priests who are not called to it.
The charism of celibacy has been linked with priestly ministry from our earliest history when Paul recommended it as a special witness to the reign of God. However, St. Peter was married, and it is likely that most of the other apostles were as well. Prisca and Aquila, a prominent missionary couple, were highly praised by Paul for their work founding house churches in Corinth, Ephesus and Rome. Both married and celibate priests were common until the 13th century when celibacy became mandatory.
The eastern rites of Catholicism presently permit priests to marry. In the U.S. there are over 100 married Roman Catholic priests who converted from the Lutheran and Episcopal denominations.
Both the celibate priesthood and the married priesthood are gifts to the Church.
Question: Doesn’t the Protestant Church have a shortage of clergy too? How will allowing priests to marry resolve the priest shortage in the Catholic Church?
Reply: While it is true that some Protestant denominations have a difficult time finding clergy, Protestants do not have a huge pool of prepared lay ministers and married priests waiting in the wings. In the U.S. Catholic Church we have an estimated 25,000 priests who left active ministry to marry. There are also at least 30,000 lay ecclesial ministers, 35,000 chaplains, 13,635 permanent deacons and 35,000 people enrolled in educational programs to become lay ministers. A substantial majority are married. Many are qualified to serve as priests if celibacy is made optional.
Question: Isn’t it true that dioceses which foster a more traditional Catholicism have more vocations to the priesthood?
Reply: The desire to serve the Church as a priest is an admirable one and should be celebrated regardless of whether one is “traditional” or “progressive.” Usually the dioceses quoted as having a more traditional Catholicism are Arlington, VA , Denver, CO and Lincoln, NE.
A comparison of numbers of seminarians in 2001 may be helpful:
| "More traditional" | |||||
| Arlington | 39 | Denver | 83 | Lincoln | 90 |
| Other dioceses: | |||||
| Boston | 200 | Chicago | 504 | Washington, DC | 212 |
| Cleveland | 55 | Dubuque | 94 | Milwaukee | 41 |
| Ft. Wayne -S. Bend | 51 | Miami | 71 | Hartford | 130 |
| Los Angeles | 128 | Detroit | 48 | Galveson-Houston | 64 |
As the numbers reveal, the so-called “more traditional” dioceses have no apparent edge over other dioceses even when one takes into consideration religious orders, since both Denver and Lincoln have seminaries for the Legionnaires of Christ. According to Catholic University sociologist Dean Hoge, for every 100 priests who resign, retire or die, there are only 30 to 40 available to replace them. If we are to maintain our Catholic sacramental identity, we must open our hearts (and our seminaries) to the diversity of priestly vocations, celibate and married, that God gives us.
Calls from Bishops Worldwide for Optional Celibacy
- December 2004 - the Australian National Priests' Council (NPC) sends a letter to the Synod urging an end to mandatory celibacy. The NPC represents half of Australia's priests and includes 42 bishops and three cardinals. The statement expressed concern - as we did in our November post card campaign -that there are no questions in the Synod Preparatory documents about the serious shortage of priests. They write:... we are scandalized when the gnat of (liturgical) abuse is so carefully strained out while the camel of dying communities is being swallowed. ) This unprecedented act is significant because it makes it more likely that the priest shortage will actually be on the Synod agenda. (for the full text, go to www.ncp.catholic.org.au/members/index.htm)
- In 1999 Edinburgh Archbishop Keith O'Brien (who has just been
named a Cardinal) acknowledged that the ordination of married men
was discussed at the European Synod but never became part of the
synod statement because of a “lobby” by curial bishops. O’Brien noted that “tensions” at the synod were not between East and West but “between the Roman Curia and the bishops who are working in our parishes.” (The
Tablet, 10/30/99).
- In 2000 Canadian Bishop Peter Sutton petitioned the Vatican to ordain married deacons to the priesthood to help with the severe shortage of priests. (Davenport Messenger 5/11/2000).
- In a small workshop session at the January 2000 Asian bishops’ meeting, one bishop told of a fellow bishop who decided that the only way to bring the Eucharist into a large priestless section of his country was to ordain two married men, which he quietly did some years ago. (National Catholic Reporter 2/28/00)
- Since 1970 the Indonesian Bishops’ conference has petitioned the Vatican to allow a married priesthood in order to provide access to the Eucharist for their people.(National Catholic Reporter 9/10/99)