The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-01-13
THE CzLIRAcY OF THE CLERGY

There is nothing in the New Tesla
ment to indicate that priestly cell
bacy is compulsory. 1t is not matter
| of dogma, but of discipline, and has
been instituted by the Church. So
far as the New Testament records
show, none of the Apostles were mar
ried at the time they were called to
ton of many pious women in the
New Testament, but no mention of
wives of the Apostles. There is, in
deed, an inference that Peter had
been married, but his words to Christ
are plain: Behold we have left all
things and followed Thee" In none
of the traditions of the Apostolic
Church is there a word about wives
of the Apostles, and from all that
is handed down to us. of their labors
it is clearly improbable, to say the
least that they were married.
There are various reasons given for
| celibacy which may be considered
| unitarian. 1t is apparent that the
great work Of priest is of mission
| airy character, and would he extreme
| ly difficult to one hindered with the
care of family, Saint Paul says, HE
| that is without a wife, is solicitous for
| the things that belong to the Lord,
how he may please God. But he that
is with a wife, is solicitous for the
things of the world, how he may
please his wife and is divided" One
of the ablest advocates of Protes-
tantism in its most intellectual form,
recently announced, not as religious
| truth, but as an apostle of common
sense, that lone of the first requisites
for the ministry is capacity for cell
| bacy."
| While in the early ages of the
| Church celibacy was not universal
among the clergy, it is certain that the
majority Of them were voluntary cell
bates. Tertullian, Origen, Saint
Cyril, Saint Jerome, and numerous
writer's of the early centuries are au
thorities who testified to the preva
lence of priestly ceibacy in their
time, and who insisted on the princi
pie that the clergy should be unmar
ried. The first legislation on the sub
ject was at the Spanish Council OF
Elvira, between A. D. 295 and 3O5
Strict laws were adopted enforcing
celibacy on clerics of all orders. The
First General Council of Nice refused
to enforce celibacy as law on the en-
tire Church because of objections
from Eastern Bishops. Socrates, the
historian of the Council, argued that
marriage of bishops and priests is
against the apostolic tradition of the
Church. The Emperor Justinian, in
his famous Code, forbade any man
having children to receive Holy Or
ders, because the natural affection OF
| man for his children would inter
fere with the proper performance Of
the duties of a priest. At Council
held in Rome in $50, Pope Siricius
forbade married priests to have con
jugal relations with their wives. At the
time of Saint Leo (440-461), celibacy
was generally recognized throughout
the West, and in the East marriage
among the clergy was probably little
more recognized than it is today. In
what is known as the Iron Age, the
tenth century, when corruption swept
| over Christendom, many among the
bishops and clergy insisted on the
right to marry, and in Germany. espe
cially, we find married clergy. This
corruption was favored by the EN-
perors who were seeking to subordi
nate religion to the State. Saint Lee
TX legislated against clerical marriage
and the great Gregory VII stamped
out the evil. Since his time there has
n been no serious attempt to change the
law of celibacy III the We tern Church