I'm Not Making Excuses For The Priests That Molest Children....BUT Do You Agree With Him?

Question

I did not come up with this idea; however, I do remember reading it in an article. This occured at the height of all the scandals about the Priests having sex with, and molesting children at the church. One guy wrote an article suggesting that though the actions of the Priest are indeed wrong, could some of the fault perhaps lie with the church, for not allowing them to marry? He pointed out that he believed that it is unnatural for Priests not to be able to marry, because they are human and need sex like everyone else. He felt that since sex is natural, and that there is even acknowledgement in the Bible of the fact that people are going to need and engage in sex, and if that must be, then they need to do it within a marriage. The man also points out, that the no sex and marriage rules for Priests, are rules made by man, and they weren't given by God, and aren't written in the Bible. So, this is his argument that Priests need to be allowed to marry. Do you agree with him?

Like I said, I didn't come up with the idea, and I didn't write the article. I just read it.

Answer 1

OK - I'll start by saying I left the church some time ago, but i can provide some answer here without any bias either way.

I've noticed many references to Paul, but all have missed half of what he had to say the matter. Yes Paul did see celibacy as the better option, especially for one in a leadership position. Why?? Because when one is married they must, even by God's law, honour their wives/husbands, devoting much of their time & love to their partner. A celibate person however is not divided in their loyalties or their heart, meaning they are that much freer to do the works of God.

Paul also saw celibacy as a preferred path as many in that period were destined to become martyrs for their faith (Paul himself helped many along that journey before his own salvation!) - if one is married, not only is one more likely to waver in their faith given such circumstances, being married means their spouse would be left behind after their death, something which Paul hoped could avoided where possible.

What all seemed to have missed here when referring to Paul, is what he ALSO said (in Second Corinthians if I am not mistaken). Paul recognised the beauty of marriage as a gift from God. He also said that if one is finding temptation in the flesh, then it would be far better to marry than to fall to sin. Although valuing celibacy as an option which allowed a single-minded devotion to God, he recognised in his wisdom that this was not an option for all - that for many this path would lead to sin and eternal damnation.

For some strange reason, whilst other denominations have heeded this wisdom, the Catholic church (in most cases but not all) seems to have adhered to age-old traditions, even if this means some priest continue to fall.

Answer 2

Most Catholics I know attend their church because they have comfoting traditions for them to participate in - not because they believe what is said is the truth or that they really live by what the Priest says or does. Most Catholics I know attend church because their families go there and their friends even from high school still attend the same church together. It's kind of like a family - even if someone does get kicked out. If someone in the leadership of my church did something awful I wouldn't leave for that reason unless of course they did not oust they guy immediately and take severe punitive, legal and financial actions to support the molested child and get the perpetrator behind bars. They way some of the Priests in the Catholic church are treated - sometimes things are swept under the carpet and they move the Priest on to another church and no one knows he's a molester - that's why I wouldn't attend a Catholic church because it's too hard to tell with the leadership what they will do in these types of situations. The Catholic church needs to catch up with the times. 30 years ago - molested kids were kept quiet and legal action was avoided at all cost. Perpetrators ran off scott free to molest again whether they were a Priest or not because everyone goes into denial. Today, people are no longer afraid of the truth and realize the importance of dealing with perpetrators so that they won't hurt any other kids and we do things to stop it. That's where the Catholic church needs to step up and get with the times. If their leadership finds out someone has molested - they should get stripped of their job immediately and have appopriate actions taken against them like anyone else in our country would. Since when is a Priest above the law and due process? Only when protected by a higher Catholic power and when the people sit back and go into denial.

Answer 3

This idea of a celibate clergy came from the Jews, John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Apostle Paul.

The Jews. The Talmud argues that a person whose “soul is bound up with the Torah and is constantly occupied with it” may remain celibate (Maimonides, Laws of Marriage 15.3). For example, Yahweh ordered the prophet Jeremiah not to marry (Jeremiah 16:1-4). Moreover, the Essenes was a group that was active in Jesus’ time that practiced celibacy and thought by most scholars to be the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

WWJD? What would Jesus do? Jesus did not marry.

John the Baptist and Jesus are both believed to have been celibate for their entire lives. Some scholars believe that the example of the Essenes influenced either or both Jesus and John the Baptist in their celibacy.

The Apostle Paul is explicit about his celibacy (see 1 Cor. 7). There is also evidence in the gospel of Matthew for the practice of celibacy among at least some early Christians, in the famous passage about becoming “eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 19:12).

The concept took many twists and turns over the years and will probably take a few more before Christ returns in glory.

With love in Christ.

Answer 4

A Priest makes a vow to God knowing all this before hand. Confession should be made for the forgiveness of sins with a repentant heart. A full confession in front of God and everybody. There is so much to be forgiven, we need to get started.

I personally believe Priests should be able to marry but I am not Catholic. Marriage requires a vow as well though.

Maybe we should just stop making vows and do what Jesus said.

Answer 5

Why should anyone be denied the right to marry? That is one of the reasons why I think that belief systems are so archaic. P.S. How would allowing them to marry change the fact that the Priest are molesting little boys? Could it be that those molesting priest are actually deeply religious homosexuals. They are so conflicted with their sexuality that they go to extremes to try to deny themselves of their "sin". They become Priest because its the only way they can feel better. They tell god, "see I'm your servant, I will deny myself the sinful flesh of homosexuality." Then they are put into rooms with young boys. It's like leaving a steak on the table in front of a starving dog. As soon as no one is looking, guess what happens to the steak.

Answer 6

It may seem easy to blame the Church, however it is still the responsibility of the person to act within acceptable limits.

To say the Church would not let him marry and make that a valid excuse is in itself inexcusable.
If the priest is having that trouble, he should be able to act accordingly. Meaning, getting out of the situation.
Being able to marry should be an option for the priests.
If they want a life of celibacy, fine, if not then they should be allowed to marry instead of venting frustration on innocents.
Yes I do agree with that statement of marriage.

The Priest himself is and should always be held accountable for his actions.

Deflecting the blame only hurts everyone.

Answer 7

The original reason for priests not being able to marry had to do with their sons attempting to assert they inherited their father's title & the church lands when their father died. The church ended this theft-by-inheritance by simply forbidding priests to marry.

There is no reason the Catholic church could not go back to married priests.

However, the assumption is that Catholics somehow are unique to the molestation issue, when in truth, there are some protestant denominations (which allow marriage) who have higher rates of molestation (as defined by number of molesters divided by number of ordained ministers) than the Catholic Church. And just like the Catholic church, these denominations do what they can to cover it up.

This isn't a Catholic problem. It's a human problem.

Answer 8

It doesn't make any difference regarding the Church's stand on marriage - what the Priests did was wrong and the Priests knew before they became Priests that the Church did not allow them to marry!@

Answer 9

I agree. But consider this. God supplies us all we need physically and spiritually. I think the priests belief is that if they pray hard enough they will not need sex. What's warped about that thinking is we ARE human. We do need to be loved physically and emotionally. God supplied us with a mate so we can be human and experience love physically. That is the answer to the priests prayer. Those poor little boys. I know what happened to those kids is definetely not in God's plan.

Answer 10

I think they should be allowed to marry. They deserve happiness like anybody else. Being a priest is the choice of the priest themselves though so it would never give them the excuse to molest a child!