Dear Catholics: Have the sexual sins of Catholic priests occurred because of disobedience to the Bible?

Question

The sex offenses of Catholic priests against youth have come into the headlines of today. Why is this? Dear Catholic friend, if you read Leviticus 21:13, 14 the priests (Levites) were to be married! God chose Aaron, Moses' brother, to be the high priest and to minister before the LORD in the Tabernacle. Aaron's family tree is given in 1 Chronicles 6:49-53. Where did Aaron's sons come from? He had a wife! Now, going to the N.T., we find that Zacharias, a priest, was married to Elisabeth (Luke 1) and they had a son named John, who baptized the Lord Jesus.
We also find that the apostle Peter was married (Matt. 8:14, 15; Mark 1:28-31). Finally, the Bible gives the requirements of a bishop or pastor: "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hopitality, apt to teach;" This is a considerable list of requirements but number 2 is to be married! (1Tim. 3:1-13). If your church has erred in this, could they have made others?

Answer 1

The practice of the vow of celibacy amongst priests in the Catholic Church has resulted, in recent years, of attracting homosexual men to the priesthood in greater proportion. Perhaps it is time to end this non-biblical practice.

Answer 2

actual, the Bible is study daily of the year in thousands around the realm. There are 4 (often times in basic terms 3) readings from the Bible in each and each and every Mass. First examining is an old testomony examining, then a Psalm, then a clean testomony examining (not a Gospel examining), and finally a Gospel examining. The Mass is split into 2 important parts, the Liturgy of the be conscious (even as the Bible readings are study), and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. in the course of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, area of the ultimate Supper is recited by technique of the priest, Matthew 26:26-28. it really is, in accordance to Catholic idea, even as the priest consecrates the bread and wine into the Holy Eucharist. throughout the time of a era of three years, the completed Bible is study contained in the Mass. Mass is asserted daily in each and every u . s . a . of the international. there's a three year scriptural cycle (I forgot the call of this cycle, if any). in case you visit Mass daily for 3 yrs instantly, you're able to have heard the completed Bible, old testomony and New testomony. Do Catholics study the Bible? contained in the Mass, sure, daily. In inner most, many do. It relies upon on the guy. till now Vatican II, Catholics were not inspired to study the Bible as a lot as they are on the instantaneous. those days, sure, Catholics are very a lot inspired to study the Bible daily. authentic! i became a religious Catholic from 1987 to 2000. Bible examining became inspired very a lot.

Answer 3

The reason such offenses have been committed is that all men are sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God. Your suggestion that such sins are connected to the Catholic Church's policies about priestly celibacy have no basis in truth. The vast majority of cases of child molestation that are prosecuted involve married men. Furthermore, there are just as many sexual sins and crimes committed by Protestant ministers as by Catholic priests, and the incidence in both those groups of men is just about the same as in the population at large. You hear more about the offenses of Catholic priests becaused of the liberal secular press's agenda to denigrate the true Church of God. They see the Catholic Church as the main obstacle to their doctrines of secular humanism, unfettered sexual license, and pagan worldview. And they are right, thank God! If a priest commits such an offense on the other side of the country, it will appear on the front page of your local newspaper. Yet you will never hear about most similar offenses by scout leaders, youth ministers, Protestant pastors, guidance counselors, and the largest group of offenders, teachers, even close to home. So you see, you have been brainwashed.

I notice that most of the "proof texts" you have dragged out of the Bible pertain to the Old Covenant, and are therefore irrelevant to the priesthood of the New Covenant. There is no evidence that Peter was married at the time he was an apostle. His having a mother-in-law simply means he had been married at some point, but he could easily have been a widower. But even if he was married as an apostle, so what? The rule for the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church is different now. It isn't a matter of doctrinal truth. Doesn't the Church have the right to make rules governing its own priesthood? Incidentally, the Eastern Rite of the Catholic Church DOES allow married men to become priests.

The passage concerning the qualifications of a bishop or pastor is NOT a requirement to marry! (have you noticed that many Protestant ministerrs are also unmarried?). It is a teaching against POLYGAMY. That's why it says "ONE" wife. If you understood the Scriptures in light of their historical context, you wouldn't make such simplistic blunders. But you have no way of knowing the authoritative interpretation of a biblical text, having rejected the biblical pillar and foundation of truth, the Church Christ founded for all men.

I also notice that you conveniently overlooked that section of the Word of God which recommends that full time ministers of the faith remain single, lest they become divided, their family responsibilities conflicting with their Church responsibilities. Do you pick and choose which parts of God's Word to live by? I wonder if the wisdom of this passage explains the unusually high rate of divorce among Protestant clergy?

Answer 4

I am outraged by the lack of information that people have on this subject. For starters, not all priests hurt kids. Secondly, this has nothing to do with the celebracy policy of the church. If you are so sick in the head that you will hurt a child, teen or woman, then no matter the job you will find a way to do so. They could be married and those that will, still will.

http://www.yesican.org/stats.html
Stats on child sex abuse

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/4/5/01552.shtml
News artical on teachers abuse vs. priest abuse.

http://www.watton.org/abuse/stats/offender.html
Stats on sex offenders

See, it's not that being a priest makes one this way. Married men and women are also sexual predators. If being unmarried and celebrate was the only cause, then you'd have a case. But obviously, it's not!

Answer 5

Hi there, in short the answer is no to your question.
here`s my reasons, firstly,we Catholics do not live to the law of Moses, these Mosaic laws were for the Israelites alone,we live by the New Testament,(the gospel) of Jesus,or at least we are supposed to.
Zacharias was a Jew and so lived by the law of Moses.
Peter too was a Jew, who again was bound by the Mosaic law, and is likely to have been married under that law.
Peter we are told had a Mother-in-law so, his wife had most likely died before his first meeting with Jesus, and when Jesus called Peter to follow Him, Peter left everything and remained celebate for the mission he was given.
there is no real evidence of the other Apostles having been married, if they were, then they also gave up the married state, remember most were put to death, would this sacrifice have been fair on wives and children?
the Catholic church in it`s celebacy offers this same sacrifice in the service of Gospel, and most Priests see celebacy as a gift from the Lord to be wedded to His Bride -The Church, and contrary to modernist views love thier celibate state.
of course there will always be exceptions to any rule, thats human nature or human disobediance depending on how you see it.
has the church erred in 2,000 yrs of course it has,what Christians haven`t, it has made wrong decisions at ground level, but not in matters of faith, and there is a big difference here.
the Holy Spirit will not allow the authority of the Petrine office to fall into doctrinal error i.e, matters of what has been revealed through the Apostles, but an action of purely human design made by a Pope i.e,
saying that Catholics need no longer pray for example, would be His own opinion, and therefore not binding on Catholics to obey.

Answer 6

I think the sexual abuse problems arose out of a denial of the fundamental human need for sexual contact. I don't think disobedience to the Bible but rather a false emphasis on chastity and portrayal of sex as something dirty which is inspired by certain writing of the Bible. Such ideas also come from the Bible which can also be quoted in defense of the idea that all sex is immoral to some degree. In first 1 Corinthians 7, Paul say it is good for a man not to touch a woman.

All part of the endless ambiguities found in the Bible. For yet another argument based on scripture interpretation saying that the Bible is actually not against premarital sex see the link. I'm glad I base my life on common sense rather than scripture! =)

Answer 7

Disobediance? There's no such command that a priest 'must' be married. So therefore your theory is dead in the water. The sexual sins of priests, mechanics, sales people, artists, lawyers, congressmen, teachers, etc. etc. will be dealt with by God.

If you're simply looking for 'reasons' why they did it, there could be many. But first take a look at how sooooo many people, people, in positions of control over minors have done this. Studies indicate that a pedophile gravitates to these type of positions.

Answer 8

I am not enough of a Bible expert to cite chapter and verse - The Catholic tradition of celibate Priests comes from Christ telling his disciples to leave their families and follow Him (Christ). Priests consider themselves modern-day disciples.

There was a time when Priests could marry, not sure when the change came.

Answer 9

Sexual offenses happens in all religions,
medical fields, day cares and families.

Quit being judgmental to priests. God will make the final judgment, not us.

Answer 10

How do you explain all of the child sexual abuse done by Protestant ministers that are allowed to marry?

http://www.reformation.com