The theme of celibacy begins to be present in the declarations of high ecclesiastics, and also of the Pope. Cardinal Ouellet asserts that the end of priestly celibacy would have unintended consequences.

Essay (03/22/2023 09:32, Gaudium Press) Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who until April 12 will be Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, has devoted some of his last interventions to stressing the importance of priestly celibacy in the mission of the Church, in the face of a certain wave which seeks to that it is not obligatory, but optional in the Latin Church.

In an interview with Tgcom24 Last February, the Canadian cardinal said that celibacy for priests “is a great gift of Christ to the Church” and, therefore, “instead of criticizing celibacy, we should value it and encourage vocations, because it is a testimony of faith”. Of course, the Cardinal also stressed that “the grace of God is necessary to live it”.

Later, in the context of his recent visit to the Ecclesiastical University of São Dâmaso, he gave an interview to Aleteia and there he also commented on the subject.

On this subject, the precise question of José Antonio Méndez to Cardinal Ouellet was: In the book “Priests, Friends of the Bridegroom» (Priests friends of the Bridegroom) he speaks « of a renewed vision of celibacy ». Is priestly celibacy still valid and useful for the present and the future of the Church, or is it better to put an end to it, as certain voices in the German Synod demand for example?

“Celibacy has been very fruitful throughout history and always will be,” replied Cardinal Ouellet. “The evangelizing force of the Catholic Church owes much to the celibacy of priests and religious. Indeed, the sense of celibacy as a vocation is a testimony to the absolute love of God”.

But celibacy is also, continues the cardinal, “a testimony of total availability to exercise the ministry as a disinterested service which becomes a true spiritual fatherhood. Christ called his apostles to leave everything to follow him. Accepting this call is a confession of faith in the divinity of Christ, for only God can demand such love and repay it. I believe that a change in church discipline on priestly celibacy would have unintended consequences.

The words of the pope

Could these consequences be close?

This is something many are wondering after the pope’s words in his recent interview with Daniel Hadad from infobae, on March 10, when Francis said: “There is no contradiction in a priest getting married. Celibacy in the Western Church is a temporal prescription: I do not know if it is solved in one way or another, but it is provisional in this sense; it is not eternal like priestly ordination, which is eternal whether you like it or not. Whether you leave or not is another matter, but it’s forever. On the contrary, celibacy is a discipline.

— In other words, it could be revised, asks the Infobae journalist.

“Yes. Yes. In fact, everyone in the Eastern Church is married. Or those who want to. There they make a choice. Before ordination there is the possibility of marrying or being Indeed, Eastern Rite priests who are ordained celibate must remain celibate and bishops are chosen from among them.

But the question of celibacy has particularly haunted the Catholic intelligentsia since the last synod on the Amazon, when many voices wanted to introduce the ordination of virii probati“trusted men,” that is, men of proven faith and piety, married, who would be possible candidates for ordained ministry.

At that time, Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, published “in four hands” with Pope Ratzinger the work, From the Deepest of Hearts – On the Future of Priests, the Meaning of the Catholic Priesthood and the Meaning of Celibacy, who advocated celibacy, and who certainly influenced the drafting of the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation dear amazonwhich disappointed some because he did not open the door to the ordination of virii probati.

Several analysts then assured that the resignation of Mons. Georg Ganswëin of the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household in 2020 was due to the fact that Pope Francis wanted to open this door to married priests, but the book co-authored by Benedict XVI prevented him from doing so, because it would show a non-continuity of the masterly attitude of the two Popes on this point, a continuity that Francis always wanted to present, and that Mgr. Ganswëin would be an “accomplice” of this ruse.

True or not, and with Pope Ratzinger already dead, Francis’ last words to Infobae on celibacy seem to indicate that the pope is thinking of opening the door to optionality, and that in anticipation of that, statements such as those made by Cardinal Ouellet or the most recent expressions of Sarah Cardinalduring the spiritual retreat he preached to some fifty priests in Ars earlier this month, he declared that priestly celibacy is of apostolic origin and must be maintained.

In any case, if Francis introduces the possibility of optional celibacy, it will be an opportunity for the defenders of celibacy to take advantage of these circumstances to make known their reasons, the history and the theology of priestly celibacy. (GDS)