Card.CláudioHummes,O.F.M.
Prefect,
Congregation for the Clergy
At
the beginning of the 40th anniversary of the publication of the Encyclical
Sacerdotalis Caelibatus of His Holiness Paul VI,
the Congregation for the Clergy deems it opportune to recall the magisterial
teaching of this important Papal Document.
Indeed,
priestly celibacy is Christ's precious gift to his Church, a gift one needs to
meditate on anew and to strengthen, especially in today's profoundly
secularized world.
Scholars
note that the origins of priestly celibacy date back to apostolic times. Fr
Ignace de la Potterie writes: “Scholars generally agree that the obligation of
celibacy, or at least of continence, became canon law from the fourth century
onwards.... However, it is important to observe that the legislators of the
fourth and fifth centuries affirmed that this canonical enactment was based on
an apostolic tradition.
“The
Council of Carthage (390), for instance, said: ‘It was fitting that those who
were at the service of the divine sacraments be perfectly continent
(continentes esse in omnibus), so that what the Apostles taught and
antiquity itself maintained, we too may observe’”.1
In
the same way, A.M. Stickler mentions biblical arguments of apostolic
inspiration that advocate celibacy.2
Historical
development
The
Church's solemn Magisterium has never ceased to reaffirm the measures
regulating ecclesiastical celibacy. The Synod of Elvira (300-303?) prescribed
in can. 27: “A Bishop, like any other cleric, should have with him either only
one sister or consecrated virgin; it is established that in no way should he
have an extraneous woman”; in can. 33: “The following overall prohibition for
Bishops, presbyters and deacons and for all clerics who exercise a ministry has
been decided: they must abstain from relations with their wives and must not
beget children; those who do are to be removed from the clerical state”.3
Pope
St Siricius (384-399), in his Letter to Bishop Himerius of Tarragona dated 10
February 385, affirmed: “The Lord Jesus... wished the figure of the Church,
whose Bridegroom he is, to radiate with the splendour of chastity... all of us
as priests are bound by the indissoluble law of these measures... so that from
the day of our ordination we may devote our hearts and our bodies to moderation
and modesty, to please the Lord our God in the daily sacrifices we offer to
him”.4
At
the First Lateran Ecumenical Council of 1123, we read from can. 3: “We
absolutely forbid priests, deacons or subdeacons to cohabit with concubines or
wives and to cohabit with women other than those whom the Council of Nicea
(325) permitted to live in the household”.5
So
too, at the 24th session of the Council of Trent, the absolute impossibility of
contracting marriage for clerics bound by Sacred Orders or for male religious
who had solemnly professed chastity was reasserted; and with it, the nullity of
marriage itself was declared, together with the duty to ask God, with an
upright intention, for the gift of chastity.6
In
more recent times, the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council reaffirmed in the
Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests, Presbyterorum Ordinis7, the
close connection between celibacy and the Kingdom of God. It saw in the former
a sign that radiantly proclaims the latter, the beginning of a new life to
whose service the minister of the Church is consecrated.
With
the Encyclical Sacerdotalis Caelibatus of 24 June 1967, Paul VI kept a
promise he had made to the Council Fathers two years earlier. In it, he
examined the objections raised concerning the discipline of celibacy.
Subsequently, by placing emphasis on their Christological foundation and
appealing to history and to what we learn from the first-century documents
about the origins of celibacy and continence, he fully confirmed their value.
The
1971 Synod of Bishops, both in the pre-synodal programme Ministerium
Presbyterorum (15 February) and in the Final Document Ultimis Temporibus
(30 November), affirmed the need to preserve celibacy in the Latin Church,
shedding light on its foundations, the convergence of motives and the
conditions that encouraged it.8
The
new Code of Canon Law of the Latin Church in 1983 reasserted the age-old
tradition: “Clerics are obliged to observe perfect and perpetual continence for
the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven and therefore are obliged to observe
celibacy, which is a special gift of God, by which sacred ministers can adhere
more easily to Christ with an undivided heart and can more freely dedicate
themselves to the service of God and humankind”.9
Along
the same lines, the 1990 Synod resulted
in the Apostolic Exhortation of the Servant of God, Pope John Paul II, Pastores
Dabo Vobis, in which the Pontiff presented celibacy as a radical Gospel
requirement that especially favours the style of spousal life and springs from
the priest's configuration to Jesus Christ through the Sacrament of Orders.10
The
Catechism of the Catholic Church, published in 1992 and which gathers
the firstfruits of the great event of the Second Vatican Council, reaffirms the
same doctrine: “All the ordained ministers of the Latin Church, with the
exception of permanent deacons, are normally chosen from among men of faith who
live a celibate life and who intend to remain celibate ‘for the sake of the
Kingdom of Heaven’”.11
At
the most recent Synod on the Eucharist itself, according to the preliminary
unofficial draft of its final propositiones authorized by Pope Benedict
XVI, in propositio n. 11, “the importance of the priceless gift of
ecclesiastical celibacy in the practices of the Latin Church is recognized”
despite the scarcity of clergy in certain parts of the world as well as the
“Eucharistic hunger” of the People of God. With the reference to the
Magisterium, particularly that of the Second Vatican Council and of the most
recent Pontiffs, the Fathers asked that the reasons for the relationship
between celibacy and priestly ordination be properly described, with full
respect for the tradition of the Eastern Churches. Some of them referred to the
matter of the viri probabi, but the hypothesis was judged to be a way
not to be taken.
Only
recently, on 16 November 2006, Pope Benedict presided at one of the regular
meetings held in the Apostolic Palace of the Heads of the Dicasteries of the
Roman Curia. On that occasion, the value of the choice of priestly celibacy in
accordance with the unbroken Catholic tradition was reasserted and the need for
the sound human and Christian formation of seminarians and ordained priests was
reaffirmed.
Reasons
for holy celibacy
In his Encyclical
Sacerdotalis Caelibatus, Paul
VI begins by presenting the situation of priestly celibacy at that time, from
the viewpoint of the appreciation of it and of the objections to it. His first
words are crucial and ever timely: “Priestly celibacy has been guarded by the
Church for centuries as a brilliant jewel, and retains its value undiminished
even in our time when the outlook of men and the state of the world have
undergone such profound changes”.12
Paul VI revealed what he himself
meditated upon, questioning himself on the subject in order to be able to
respond to the objections. He concluded: “Hence, we consider that the present
law of holy celibacy should today continue to be linked to the ecclesiastical
ministry. This law should support the minister in his exclusive, definitive and
total choice of the unique and supreme love of Christ and of the Church; it
should uphold him in the entire dedication of himself to the public worship of
God and to the service of the Church; it should distinguish his state of life
both among the faithful and in the world at large”.13
“It is true”, the Pope added, “that
virginity, as the Second Vatican Council declared, is not demanded of the
priesthood by its nature. This is clear from the practice of the early Church
and the tradition of the Eastern Churches (cf. Presbyterorum Ordinis, n.
16). But at the same time the Council did not hesitate to confirm solemnly the
ancient, sacred and providential present law of priestly celibacy. In addition,
it set forth the motives which justify this law for those who, in a spirit of
faith and with generous fervour, know how to appreciate the gifts of God”.14
It is true. Celibacy is a gift that
Christ offers to men called to the priesthood. This gift must be accepted with
love, joy and gratitude. Thus, it will become a source of happiness and
holiness.
Paul VI gave three reasons for
sacred celibacy: its Christological, ecclesiological and eschatological
significance.
Let us start with its Christological
significance.
Christ is newness. He brings about a
new creation. His priesthood is new. He renews all things. Jesus, the Only-Begotten
Son of the Father sent into the world, “became man in order that humanity which
was subject to sin and death might be reborn, and through this new birth might
enter the Kingdom of Heaven”.
“Being entirely consecrated to the
will of the Father, Jesus brought forth this new creation by means of his
Paschal Mystery; thus, he introduced into time and into the world a new form of
life which is sublime and divine and which radically transforms the human
condition”.15
Natural marriage itself, blessed by
God since creation but damaged by sin, was renewed by Christ, who “has raised
it to the dignity of a sacrament and of a mysterious symbol of his own union
with the Church.... But Christ, ‘Mediator of a more excellent covenant’ (cf.
Heb 8:6), has also opened a new way in which the human creature adheres wholly
and directly to the Lord, and is concerned only with him and with his affairs;
thus, he manifests in a clearer and more complete way the profoundly
transforming reality of the New Testament”.16
This newness, this new process, is
life in virginity, which Jesus himself lived in harmony with his role as
Mediator between Heaven and earth, between the Father and the human race.
“Wholly in accord with this mission, Christ remained throughout his whole life
in the state of celibacy, which signified his total dedication to the service
of God and men”.17 The service of God and men means that total love without
reserve which distinguished Jesus' life among us: virginity for the sake of the
Kingdom of God!
Now Christ, by calling his priests
to be ministers of salvation, that is, of the new creation, calls them to be
and to live in newness of life, united and similar to him in the most perfect
way possible. From this derives the gift of sacred celibacy, as the fullest
configuration with the Lord Jesus and a prophecy of the new creation. He called
his Apostles “friends”. He called them to follow him very closely in
everything, even to the Cross. And the Cross brought them to the Resurrection,
to the new creation's completion.
We know, therefore, that following
him with faithfulness in virginity, which includes sacrifice, will lead us to
happiness. God does not call anyone to unhappiness; he calls us all to
happiness. Happiness, however, always goes hand in hand with faithfulness. The
late Pope John Paul II said this to the married couples whom he met at the
Second World Meeting of Families in Rio de Janeiro.
Thus, the theme of the
eschatological meaning of celibacy is revealed as a sign and a prophecy of the
new creation, in other words, of the definitive Kingdom of God in the parousia,
when we will all be raised from the dead.
As the Second Vatican Council
teaches, “She [the Church] is, on earth, the seed and the beginning of that
kingdom”.18 Virginity, lived for love of the Kingdom of God, is a special sign
of these “final times”, because the
Lord announced that “in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in
marriage, but are like angels in heaven”.19
In a world like ours, a world of
entertainment and superficial pleasures, captivated by earthly things and
especially by the progress of science and technology — let us remember the
biological sciences and biotechnology — the proclamation of an afterlife, of a
future world, a parousia, as a definitive event of a new creation is
crucial and at the same time free from the ambiguity of aporia, of din, suffering and contradictions
with regard to the true good and the new, profound knowledge that human
progress brings with it.
Finally, the ecclesiological meaning
of celibacy leads us more directly to the priest's pastoral activity.
The Encyclical Sacerdotalis
Caelibatus affirms: “The consecrated celibacy of the sacred ministers
actually manifests the virginal love of Christ for the Church, and the virginal
and supernatural fecundity of this marriage”.20
Like Christ and in Christ, the
priest mystically weds the Church and loves the Church with an exclusive love.
Thus, dedicating himself totally to the affairs of Christ and of his Mystical
Body, the priest enjoys ample spiritual freedom to put himself at the loving
and total service of all people without distinction.
“In a similar way, by a daily dying
to himself and by giving up the legitimate love of a family of his own for the
love of Christ and of his Kingdom, the priest will find the glory of an
exceedingly rich and fruitful life in Christ, because like him and in him he
loves and dedicates himself to all the children of God”.21
The Encyclical likewise adds that
celibacy makes it easier for the priest to devote himself to listening to the
Word of God and to prayer, and prepares him to offer upon the altar the whole
of his life, marked by sacrifice.22
Value
of chastity, celibacy
Even before it is a canonical
disposition, celibacy is God's gift to his Church. It is an issue bound to the
complete gift of self to the Lord.
In the distinction between the
age-old discipline of celibacy and the religious experience of consecration and
the pronouncement of vows, it is beyond doubt that there is no other possible
interpretation or justification of ecclesiastical celibacy than unreserved
dedication to the Lord in a relationship that must also be exclusive from the
emotional viewpoint. This presupposes a strong personal and communal
relationship with Christ, who transforms the hearts of his disciples.
The option for celibacy of the Latin
Rite Catholic Church has developed since apostolic times precisely in line with
the priest's relationship with his Lord, moved by the inspiring question, “Do
you love me more than these?”,23 which the Risen Jesus addressed to Peter.
The Christological, ecclesiological
and eschatological reasons for celibacy, all rooted in the special communion
with Christ to which priests are called, can therefore be expressed in various
ways, according to what is authoritatively stated in Sacerdotalis
Caelibatus.
Celibacy is first and foremost a
“symbol of and stimulus to charity”.24 Charity is the supreme criterion for
judging Christian life in all its aspects; celibacy is a path of love, even if,
as the Gospel according to Matthew says, Jesus himself states that not all are
able to understand this reality: “Not all men can receive this precept, but
only those to whom it is given”.25
This charity develops in the
classical, twofold aspect of love for God and for others: “By preserving
virginity or celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, priests are
consecrated in a new and excellent way to Christ. They more readily cling to him
with undivided heart”.26 St Paul, in the passage alluded to here, presents
celibacy and virginity as the way “to please God” without divided interests:27
in other words, a “way of love” which certainly presupposes a special vocation;
in this sense it is a charism and in itself excellent for both Christians and
priests.
Through pastoral charity, radical
love for God becomes love for one's brethren. In Presbyterorum Ordinis we
read that priests “dedicate themselves more freely in him and through him to
the service of God and of men. They are less encumbered in their service of his
Kingdom and of the task of heavenly regeneration. In this way they become
better fitted for a broader acceptance of fatherhood in Christ”.28
Common experience confirms that it
is easier for those who, apart from Christ, are not bound by other affections,
however legitimate and holy they may be, to give their heart to their brethren
fully and without reserve.
Celibacy is the example that Christ
himself left us. He wanted to be celibate. The Encyclical explains further:
“Wholly in accord with this mission, Christ remained throughout his whole life
in the state of celibacy, which signified his total dedication to the service
of God and men. This deep connection between celibacy and the priesthood of
Christ is reflected in those whose fortune it is to share in the dignity and
mission of the Mediator and the Eternal Priest; this sharing will be more
perfect the freer the sacred minister is from the bonds of flesh and blood”.29
Jesus Christ's historical existence
is the most visible sign that chastity voluntarily embraced for God's sake is a
solidly founded vocation, both at the Christian level and at that of common
human logic.
If ordinary Christian life cannot
legitimately claim to be such if it excludes the dimension of the Cross, how
much more incomprehensible would priestly life be were the perspective of the
Crucified One to be put aside. Suffering, sometimes weariness and boredom and
even setbacks have to be dealt with in a priest's life which, however, is not
ultimately determined by them. In choosing to follow Christ, one learns from
the very outset to go with him to
Calvary, mindful that taking up one's cross is the element that qualifies the
radical nature of the sequela.
Lastly, as previously stated,
celibacy is an eschatological sign. In the Church, from this moment, the future
Kingdom is present. She not only proclaims it but brings it about through the
sacraments, contributing to the “new creation” until her glory is fully manifested.
While the Sacrament of Marriage
roots the Church in the present, immersing her totally in the earthly realm
which can thus become a possible place for sanctification, celibacy refers
immediately to the future, to that full perfection of the created world that
will be brought to complete fulfilment only at the end of time.
Being
faithful to celibacy
The 2,000-year-old wisdom of the
Church, an expert in humanity, has in the course of time constantly determined
several fundamental and indispensable elements to foster her children's
fidelity to the supernatural charism of celibacy.
Among them, also in the recent
Magisterium, the importance of spiritual formation for the priest, who is
called to be “a witness of the Absolute”, stands out. Pastores Dabo Vobis states:
“In preparing for the priesthood we learn how to respond from the heart to
Christ's basic question: ‘Do you love me?’. For the future priest the answer
can only mean total self-giving”.30
In this regard, the years of
formation are absolutely fundamental, both those distant years lived in the
family, and especially the more recent years spent at the seminary. At this
true school of love, like the apostolic community, young seminarians cluster
round Jesus, awaiting the gift of his Spirit for their mission.
“The relation of the priest to Jesus
Christ, and in him to his Church, is found in the very being of the priest, by
virtue of his sacramental consecration/ anointing and in his activity, that is,
in his mission or ministry”.31
The priesthood is no more than
“‘living intimately united’ to Jesus Christ”32 in a relationship of intimate
communion, described “in terms of friendship”.33 The priest's life is basically
that form of existence which would be inconceivable without Christ. Precisely
in this lies the power of his witness: virginity for the sake of the Kingdom of
God is a real element, it exists because Christ, who makes it possible, exists.
Love for the Lord is authentic when
it endeavours to be total: falling in love with Christ means having a deep
knowledge of him, it means a close association with his Person, the
identification and assimilation of his thought, and lastly, unreserved
acceptance of the radical demands of the Gospel. It is only possible to be
witnesses of God through a deep experience of Christ; the whole of a priest's
life depends on his relationship with the Lord, the quality of his experience
of martyria, of his witness.
Only someone who truly has Jesus for
his friend and Lord, one who enjoys his communion, can be a witness of the
Absolute. Christ is not only a subject of reflection, of a theological thesis
or of a historical memory; he is the Lord who is present, he is alive because
he is the Risen One and we live only to the extent that we participate ever more
deeply in his life. The entire priestly existence is founded on this explicit
faith.
Consequently, the Encyclical says:
“The priest should apply himself above all else to developing, with all the
love grace inspires in him, his close relationship with Christ, and exploring
this inexhaustible and enriching mystery; he should also acquire an ever deeper
sense of the mystery of the Church. There would be the risk of his state of
life seeming unreasonable and unfounded if it were viewed apart from this mystery”.34
In addition to formation and love
for Christ, an essential element for preserving celibacy is passion for the
Kingdom of God, which means the ability to work cheerfully, sparing no effort
to make Christ known, loved and followed.
Like the peasant who, having found
the precious pearl, sold all he had in order to purchase the field, so those
who find Christ and spend their whole lives with him and for him cannot but
live by working to enable others to encounter him.
Without this clear perspective, any
“missionary urge” is doomed to failure, methodologies are transformed into
techniques for maintaining a structure, and even prayers can become techniques
for meditation and for contact with the sacred in which both the human “I” and
the “you” of God dissolve.
One fundamental and necessary
occupation, a requirement and a task, is prayer. Prayer is irreplaceable in
Christian life and in the life of priests. Prayer should be given special
attention.
The Eucharistic Celebration, the
Divine Office, frequent confession, an affectionate relationship with Mary Most
Holy, Spiritual Retreats and the daily recitation of the Holy Rosary are some
of the spiritual signs of a love which, were it lacking, would risk being
replaced by unworthy substitutes such as appearances, ambition, money and sex.
The priest is a man of God because
God calls him to be one, and he lives this personal identity in an exclusive
belonging to his Lord, also borne out by his choice of celibacy. He is a man of
God because he lives by God and talks to God. With God he discerns and decides
in filial obedience on the steps of his own Christian existence.
The more radically a priest is a man
of God through a life that is totally theocentric, as the Holy Father stressed
in his Address at the Christmas Meeting with the Roman Curia on 22 December
2006, the more effective and fertile his witness will be, and the richer in
fruits of conversion his ministry. There is no opposition between fidelity to
God and fidelity to man: on the contrary, the former is a prerequisite for the
latter.
Conclusion:
a holy vocation
Pastores Dabo Vobis, speaking
on the priest's vocation to holiness, having underlined the importance of the
personal relationship with Christ, expresses another need: the priest, called
to the mission of preaching the Good News, sees himself entrusted with it in
order to give it to everyone. He is nevertheless called in the first place to
accept the Gospel as a gift offered for his life, for himself, and as a saving
event that commits him to a holy life.
In this perspective, John Paul II
has spoken of the evangelical radicalism that must be a feature of the priest's
holiness. It is therefore possible in the evangelical counsels, traditionally
proposed by the Church and lived in the various states of consecrated life, to
map out the vitally radical journey to which, also and in his own way, the
priest is called to be faithful.
Pastores Dabo Vobis states:
“A particularly significant expression of the radicalism of the Gospel is seen
in the different ‘evangelical counsels’ which Jesus proposes in the Sermon on
the Mount, and among them the intimately related counsels of obedience,
chastity and poverty. The priest is called to live these counsels in
accordance with those ways and, more specifically, those goals and that basic
meaning which derive from and express his own priestly identity”.35
And again, taking up the ontological
dimension on which evangelical radicalism is founded, the Post-Synodal
Apostolic Exhortation says: “The Spirit, by consecrating the priest and
configuring him to Jesus Christ, Head and Shepherd, creates a bond which,
located in the priest's very being, demands to be assimilated and lived out in
a personal, free and conscious way through an ever richer communion of life and
love and an ever broader and more radical sharing in the feelings and attitudes
of Jesus Christ. In this bond between the Lord Jesus and the priest, an
ontological and psychological bond, a sacramental and moral bond, is the
foundation and likewise the power for that ‘life according to the Spirit’ and
that ‘radicalism of the Gospel’ to which every priest is called today and which
is fostered by ongoing formation in its spiritual aspect”.36
The nuptial dimension of
ecclesiastical celibacy, proper to this relationship between Christ and the
Church which the priest is called to interpret and to live, must enlarge his
mind, illumine his life and warm his heart. Celibacy must be a happy sacrifice,
a need to live with Christ so that he will pour out into the priest the
effusions of his goodness and love that are ineffably full and perfect.
In this regard the words of the Holy
Father Benedict XVI are enlightening: “The true foundation of celibacy can be
contained in the phrase: Dominus pars (mea) — You are my land. It can
only be theocentric. It cannot mean being deprived of love, but must mean
letting oneself be consumed by passion for God and subsequently, thanks to a
more intimate way of being with him, to serve men and women, too. Celibacy must
be a witness to faith: faith in God materializes in that form of life which
only has meaning if it is based on God.
“Basing one's life on him,
renouncing marriage and family, means that I accept and experience God as a
reality and that I can therefore bring him to men and women”.37
NOTES
1Cf.
Fr I. de la Potterie, Il fondamento biblico del celibato sacerdotale, in
Solo per amore. Riflessioni sul celibato sacerdotale, Cinisello Balsamo,
1993, pp. 14-15.
2Cf.
A.M. Stickler, in Ch. Cochini, Origines
apostoliques du Célibat sacerdotal, Preface, p. 6.
3Cf. H. Denzinger, Enchiridion
symbolorum definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum, ed. P. Hünermann., Bologna,
1995, nn. 118-119, p. 61.
4Ibid.,
op. cit., n. 185, p. 103; [n. 10].
5Cf. ibid., op. cit., n. 711, p. 405.
6Ibid., op. cit., n. 1809, p.
739.
7Second Vatican Council, Decree on
the Ministry and Life of Priests, Presbyterorum Ordinis, n. 16.
8Enchiridion of the Synod of
Bishops, 1, 1965-1988 ed. General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, Bologna,
2005, nn. 755-855; 1068-1114; especially nn. 1100-1105.
9Code of Canon Law, can. 277,
§1.
10John Paul II, Post-Synodal
Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis, 25 March 1992, n. 44.
11Catechism of the Catholic
Church, n. 1579.
12Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Sacerdotalis
Caelibatus, n. 1.
13Ibid., n. 14.
14Ibid., n. 17.
15Ibid., n. 19.
16Ibid., n. 20.
17Ibid., n. 21.
18Cf. Second Vatican Council,
Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, n. 5.
19Paul VI, Sacerdotalis Caelibatus, n.
34.
20Ibid., n. 26.
21Ibid., n. 30.
22Cf. ibid., nn. 27-29.
23John 21:15.
24Paul
VI, Sacerdotalis Caelibatus, n. 24.
25Matthew 19:11.
26Second Vatican Council,
Presbyterorum Ordinis, n. 16.
27Cf. I Corinthians 7:32-33.
28Second Vatican Council,
Presbyterorum Ordinis, n. 16.
29Paul VI, Sacerdotalis Caelibatus, n.
21.
30John Paul II, Pastores Dabo Vobis, n. 42.
31Ibid.,
n. 16.
32Ibid., n. 46.
33Ibid.
34Paul VI, Sacerdotalis Caelibatus, n.
75.
35John Paul II, Pastores Dabo Vobis, n. 27.
36Ibid.,
n. 72.
37Benedict XVI, Address at the
Audience with the Roman Curia for the Exchange of Christmas Greetings, 22
December 2006; L’Osservatore Romano English edition, 3 January
2007, p. 5.