Why are priests of the Catholic Church not allowed to marry?

Question

Only weeks ago, the Roman Catholic Church reversed the traditional teaching about Limbo. Corollarily, if priests could not marry today, could it also be possible that this view change in the future?

Answer 1

You know I have always wondered this, since in the Bible, Aaron and the other Priest where married themselves

Answer 2

Because the love of Christ was a universal love without any discrimination, without any distinction and without any condition.
In a relation people will give always more love to their partner and children than to other persons. This in not the love Jesus told us about. Real love is not loving someone because he is looking good, has a good charactar, has much knowledge, is rich or even he is good to you. It is easy to love someone who loves you. This is not the love of Jesus, this is romantic and selfish love.

Real love is loving everyone...

So it is important that a priest not gives special love to someone but gives his loves to everyone.

An other reason is that a person with a family has to work and do a lot of things for his family. A father of a family has to take care of his house and children. So he can have a lot of conflicts and problems: the house can colapse, sometimes he even has to defend his properties or children etc. All these things makes that a father has a lot of selfish tasks.
A priest has not these problems and things that make a person selfish.
A priest wants to give all his life, time and energy to be an real example of the love of christ.

This is also in other religions the same. Buddhist monks don't marry. Also the Buddha said that being a householder is a serious obstacle to find real enlightment.

You can see this also in Hinduism.

Also the older jewish herimites sects where not married for the same reason.

I think it is a good thing. And certainly world that is driven by sexual desire, it is also a symbol and sign to show that sex and romantic love is not the most important thing in life. And to show a much deeper and better way of love: the universal love, the way God loves everybody even his ennemy.

Answer 3

>>Only weeks ago, the Roman Catholic Church reversed the traditional teaching about Limbo.<<

Despite news reports to the contrary, the Church actually reiterated that the theory of Limbo "remains a possible theological opinion."
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20070419_un-baptised-infants_en.html

>>Corollarily, if priests could not marry today, could it also be possible that this view change in the future?<<

It could, but don't hold your breath. While the Church has and DOES ordain married men to the priesthood, the Church has never allowed men to marry after ordination to the priesthood and retain the clerical state.

EDIT:
The guy above me is bearing false witness against Catholics. He claims, "They think the Holy Spirit was given only to the Pope and that everyone who is not a Catholic is going to hell."

The Catholic Church teaches that the Holy Spirit is God's gift to us: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P24.HTM

...and that non-Catholics can also be saved:

"Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life." (Lumen Gentium 16)
http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html

Answer 4

The celibate clergy did not come into full bloom until about 1000 A.D. There were many married priests, bishops, and popes before this time.

Priests, religious brothers and religious sisters (nuns) as part of their vocation choose not to marry following:
+ The practice recommended in the Bible
+ The example of Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, and the Apostle Paul.

+++ Scripture +++

+ In Matthew 19:12, Jesus says, "Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it."

+ In Matthew 19:29, Jesus says, "And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life."

+ Matthew 22:30 - Jesus explains, "At the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels in heaven."

+ In 1 Corinthians 7:1, Paul writes, "It is a good thing for a man not to touch a woman."

+ Then in 1 Corinthians 7:7, Paul says, "Indeed, I wish everyone to be as I am."

+ In 1 Corinthians 7:27, Paul writes, "Are you free of a wife? Then do not look for a wife."

+ In 1 Corinthians 7:32-33, Paul teaches, "I should like you to be free of anxieties. An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife." And in verse 38, "So then, the one who marries his virgin does well; the one who does not marry her will do better."

Paul recommends celibacy for full time ministers in the Church so that they are able to focus entirely upon God and building up His kingdom. He “who refrains from marriage will do better.”

See also 1 Timothy 5:9-12, 2 Timothy 2:3-4, Revevation 14:4, Isaiah 56:3-7, and Jeremiah 16:1-4.

+++ Scriptural Examples +++

Biblical role models of a celibate clergy came from John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Apostle Paul.

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.

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

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.

A priest is "married" to the Church. Some people think that a priest who takes his duties seriously cannot take proper care of a wife and family. "A man cannot serve two masters."

With love in Christ.

Answer 5

Limbo was NEVER part of the Church's infallible teachings on Faith and morals. Still, the theory of limbo remains popular. For whatever reason, Pope Benedict saw fit to address the Limbo question once and for all. Infallible teaching dictates that souls go to either Heaven or Hell. All souls that go to Purgatory eventually go to Heaven. Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory - infallible teaching. Limbo is just an extremely popular, and thus controversial, theory.

Moving on:

It is theologically possible for a married man to become a priest. A man can receive the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony and then The Sacrament of Holy Orders, thus becoming a married man who is also an ordained clergyman. Given the demands of priesthood, such a lifestyle does not necessarily lend itself computable with one person living both the married and consecrated life.

Having said that, it is not possible for a man to receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders (thus becoming a priest) and then receive the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.

Single men who enter the seminary, studying to become priests, know that they will never be able to marry if they become an ordained clergyman. This is a sacrifice that men are willing to make in order to serve God and His Church as a priest. It is something to be respected, not scoffed at.

It is most respecful to acknowledge when someone's devotion to God and His Church is so strong, they are willing to invest their whole life to serving the Church. In doing so, they willingly sacrifice certain lifestyle elements the rest of us mistakingly regard as an entitlement.

Answer 6

They have in the past and yes it is possible in the future but not probable. Married men must put their wives and families first. Priests must put the Church and the good of their parishioners first. Hard choices.

Answer 7

There are married Catholic priests now. Maronites, Melkites, Coptics can all marry. You might be interested to know that most catholic priests prefer 'not' to marry anyway, even in the Eastern rites.

Cheers :-)

Answer 8

It's possible that priests could someday be allowed to marry, as celibacy is only a discipline, and not a dogma.

Eastern rite Catholic priests have always been allowed to be married.

Answer 9

Probably not.

In general Catholics are a kind of strange bunch. They think the Holy Spirit was given only to the Pope and that everyone who is not a Catholic is going to hell. I used to hang with a priest who was pretty kewl and did not agree with all this, but, he did believe in structure, order and Christ.

Preists are not allowed to marry because a thousand years ago a sexually frustrated Pope decided Paul was clueless and that any one who really followed Christ should be unmarried as Christ and Paul were unmarried.

Peter was married:

Matthew 8:14 - And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.

Kind of weird to think Pope's inherit the Holy Spirit through Peter, but, not Peter's ability to marry.

PS: Christ found Peter fishing in the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 4), also called the Sea of Tiberius (See Wikipedia or other sources). After the Christ was crucified Peter went back to fishing in the same place, taking back up what he had "forsaken", see John chapter 21.

Answer 10

Priests, religious brothers and religious sisters (nuns) ar not allowed to marry following:
+ The practices recommended by founder of christianity Paul of Tarsus, a notorious woman hater and young man lover;

+ Alleged historic examples of church property being lost through marriage.

+++ Historical Steps +++

(590-604) Gregory I introduces celibacy edict to prevent property from passing from church to possible wives, families or mistresses of clergy.

(590 CE) Approximately 6000 babies are found murdered in pond outside Gregory's Lateran palace after celibacy edict is introduced by Gregory I.

(655 CE): In an attempt to persuade priests to remain celibate, the 9th Council of Toledo ruled that all children of clerics were to be automatically enslaved. This ruling was later incorporated into the canon law of the church.

(1089 CE) That the Synod of Melfi under Pope Urban II, also known as Blessed Urban, did order the imposition of slavery on the wives of priests;

(1484-92) That Pope Innocent VIII did deliberately and actively display contempt to the institution of marriage, of all church law, and all Christians by fathering the largest number of illegitimate children of any Pope in the history of the church. That the number of illegitimate children is reputed to have been well over 100 and is why his reign as Supreme Pontiff is known as the "Golden Age of Bastards" in which the funds of the church were severely depleted when he granted those children not murdered with financial support.

For more, see:
http://one-faith-of-god.org/final_testament/end_of_darkness/evil/evil_0120.htm

+++ Scriptural Examples +++

Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and founded the Nazarenes.
See:
http://one-faith-of-god.org/new_testament/apocrypha/nazarenes/nazarenes_0010.htm

There is plenty of examples in the true gospels of Jesus concerning the sancity of marriage, especially for Jesus, his apostles and the Nazarene faith.

Paul of Tarsus on the other hand was a life long lover of young men and hater of women.

+++WWJD? What would Jesus do? +++

Jesus was married, Paul was not. Jesus respected women as equal. Paul loved young men and hated women.

The Apostle Paul is explicit about his celibacy and love for young men(see 1 Cor. 7). There is also evidence in the gospel of Matthew, (a doctored work by Paul of Tarsus himself) for the practice of celibacy among at least some early Christian converts from satanic worship in Syria, in the famous passage about becoming “eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 19:12).

The same practice can be seen in the worship of the Syrian goddess up until at least 150 CE.
See:
http://one-faith-of-god.org/new_testament/apocrypha/lucian/lucian_0010.htm

If a priest properly follows Jesus, then they should be "married" to their community and not the church.

Some people think that a priest who is devoid of the normal, loving relationship of a family is cut off from their community, leading to greater risk of evil acts-something that is a feature of Catholic history for many centuries.

With love in the real Jesus Christ.