Why can't roman catholic priest gt married .....anymore?

Question

I know that the first priest did get married!
So why not anymore?

Answer 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerical_celibacy
Neither the Catholic nor the Orthodox tradition has officially considered the rule of celibacy to be among the infallible dogmas of the church. Rather, those rules are considered to be in the power of popes, ecumenical councils, patriarchs, or synods to adjust if they feel it is correct. Rules of celibacy in the Catholic tradition have been modified a number of times.

In some branches of Buddhism, priests, nuns and monks also are bound to celibacy, although Zen Buddhists, in particular, are not.

In Latin-Rite (Western) Catholic churches, married men may (since the time of the Second Vatican Council in 1965) be ordained deacons, but may not be ordained priests or bishops, nor may one marry after ordination. (My church has a married Deacon)

Practically speaking, the reasons for celibacy are given by the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 7:7-8;32-35: "But I would have you to be without solicitude. 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 he is divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit. But she that is married thinketh on the things of this world how she may please her husband. And this I speak for your profit, not to cast a snare upon you, but for that which is decent and which may give you power to attend upon the Lord without impediment."



And it's not just Roman Catholic priests, dear.

Answer 2

First, as a rule, even in the first century, if you were not married then you should not get married after becoming a presbyter. Both Jesus and Paul speak of a preference for non-married people in service of the Kingdom. However, it has always been allowed for married people to become presbyters, in some parts of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

That said, there was always a preference for the unmarried where marriage is allowed. Each segment of the Catholic Church makes its own rules of discipline for its clergy. In the United States, the Roman Patriarchate is the largest segment. It banned the ordination of married men, I believe in the 11th or 12th century. The reason was to limit greed. The Church controlled a lot of land and so people would in effect pass the land down to children who were ordained making the priesthood a caste system. The Church only wanted ministers who were committed to Christ not to control of land so it believed that only the truly committed would give up marriage to serve Jesus.

In the places of the world with celebate priests, the Church's experience has been that the world's persecutors cannot overcome the message of the Word. During the Soviet period in Russia, the denominations with married ministers found that the KGB would arrest their wives and children. They would be returned unharmed IF the sermons from that point forward supported the regime. Unmarried men have no one to take or kill to keep them in line. Hitler actually devotes a small section of Mein Kampf over the problem of defeating the Catholic priesthood. He felt Protestant ministers would be easy, but the priesthood was felt to be a danger to him. He spent some time working out how to defuse the risk of a Catholic response and he was successful mostly too. The problem is that any peasant can rise to the level of a head of state. Holiness is the standard of promotion. That is a deep problem for an autocrat.

So, having known ministers from persecuted countries and hearing their admiration of the celebate clergy, there are reasons to maintain it.

Answer 3

As far as I heard Roman Catholic never left Priest get married.

Answer 4

1 Timothy 4:1-3 informs us that in the last days some would fall away from the faith and be forbidding to marry!

Jesus choose his 12 apostles, some were married others were not. It obviously was not a prerequisite.

The choice of whether you marry or not should be up to the individual and not mandatory by the church!

We all have normal sexual desires that's why 1 Corinthians 7:8-9 says that it's better to be married if you can not control those desires.

Answer 5

The Catholic Church imposed the celibacy requirement because of money. When men married and had children, the children could make claim to the money and property, making it difficult for the church to claim ownership. To prevent that from happening in the future no priest were allowed to marry so that the money and land received for the church went automatically to the church and not the priest's family.

Answer 6

The primary reason is that when a priest's son died, the son would stake a claim to the church property in control of his father. It is NOT so the church can claim the property of priests. zThe personal property of a priest belongs to the priest and the priest has brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews to whom they pass personal property to when they die.

Also, there used to be quite a bit of power and prestige associated with being the priest of a small town. Fathers would have their sons become priests in order to keep that power and prestige in the family. Sons were becoming priests to serve their own interests, not the interests of the parish. Have you noticed that wiht many megachurches, the new pastor is the son of the retired pastor and that the Board of Directors are all family members of the pastor?

Answer 7

Because a wife would distract a priest from his holy mission to serve only God according to the doctrine. I think it is poppycock but who am I to say. I think it is unhealthy to ask someone to subject themselves to a life of lonliness and solitude simply to help them keep their focus. These are people we are talking about with human needs and desires. Natural needs and desires that should be able to be met in a natural man and wife union which is holy in God's eyes. It is definately a strange practice as far as I am concerned. Several of the disciples took their wives with them to minister and spread the gospel so I do not see why todays disciples should be held to a different standard.

Answer 8

Because of the VOW OF CELEBACY, and this is a must in every priest in towm.

Answer 9

To avoid more adulteries in the corrupted world.

Answer 10

Morden world..they never could