Bronze-level articleCelibacy

From RationalWiki
(Difference between revisions)
Jump to: navigation, search
(Criticism)
(Celibacy in Christianity)
Line 6: Line 6:
  
 
==Celibacy in Christianity==
 
==Celibacy in Christianity==
The official Roman Catholic position is that clerical celibacy is "a special gift of God by which sacred ministers can more easily remain close to Christ with an undivided heart, and can dedicate themselves more freely to the service of God and their neighbor,<ref>Code of Canon Law, canon 277 §1</ref> and is required of all priests, [[Monasticism|monks or nuns]].  Technically, they are to be 'unmarried', the original definition of "celibacy", not non-sexual.  Of course, the whole "sex outside of [[marriage]]" prohibition basically forbids them any sexual contact for life.
+
Christians sometimes see celibacy as imitating the celibate life that [[Jesus]] supposedly lead though It is occasionally suggested that Jesus married Mary Magdalene.  <ref>[http://atheism.about.com/od/aboutjesus/a/JesusMarried.htm Was Jesus Married?]</ref>
 +
 
 +
The official [[Roman Catholic]] position is that clerical celibacy is "a special gift of God by which sacred ministers can more easily remain close to Christ with an undivided heart, and can dedicate themselves more freely to the service of God and their neighbor,<ref>Code of Canon Law, canon 277 §1</ref> and is required of all priests, [[Monasticism|monks or nuns]].  Technically, they are to be 'unmarried', the original definition of "celibacy", not non-sexual.  Of course, the whole "sex outside of [[marriage]]" prohibition basically forbids them any sexual contact for life.
  
 
The Bible encourages singleness — {{bible|Matthew|19|12}} (assuming ''eunuch'' in this verse is meant figuratively rather than literally<ref>Where the King James translation reads "and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake", the New International Version says "and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven".</ref>), {{bible|1 Corinthians|7|7-8}}. The earliest records of a celibacy requirement are found from the Council of Elvira (4th Century).  Sometime before the 12th Century, the [[Catholic Church]] formalized this call into compulsory celibacy for its monks, nuns and priests because, as Pope [[John Paul II]] stated, "The Church, as the Spouse of Jesus Christ, wishes to be loved by the priest in the total and exclusive manner in which Jesus Christ her Head and Spouse loved her."  A cynical argument can be made, however, that this requirement was at least in part that the Church wanted to gain control of land possessed by the priests and [[bishop]]s. <ref>[http://atheism.about.com/od/romancatholicism/a/celibacy.htm History of Celibacy in Catholicism: Catholic Priests, Celibacy, Marriage]</ref>
 
The Bible encourages singleness — {{bible|Matthew|19|12}} (assuming ''eunuch'' in this verse is meant figuratively rather than literally<ref>Where the King James translation reads "and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake", the New International Version says "and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven".</ref>), {{bible|1 Corinthians|7|7-8}}. The earliest records of a celibacy requirement are found from the Council of Elvira (4th Century).  Sometime before the 12th Century, the [[Catholic Church]] formalized this call into compulsory celibacy for its monks, nuns and priests because, as Pope [[John Paul II]] stated, "The Church, as the Spouse of Jesus Christ, wishes to be loved by the priest in the total and exclusive manner in which Jesus Christ her Head and Spouse loved her."  A cynical argument can be made, however, that this requirement was at least in part that the Church wanted to gain control of land possessed by the priests and [[bishop]]s. <ref>[http://atheism.about.com/od/romancatholicism/a/celibacy.htm History of Celibacy in Catholicism: Catholic Priests, Celibacy, Marriage]</ref>

Revision as of 09:30, 8 September 2012

Part of the series on

Sexuality

Icon sex.svg
A baker's dozen on sex
A TransGender-Symbol Plain2.png

Celibacy is the ascetic practice of forswearing all forms of sexual contact, as part of a religious tradition, as a method of self exploration and growth or as a personal ethical decision. It is distinct from abstinence because the choice to be celibate is an intentional act done for personal growth rather than external rules or lack of opportunity; it is also distinct from asexuality, which is an absence of interest in sexual contact.

Celibacy has a role in most religions, and is seen either as a form of sacrifice or as a method of inner focus or both. The Roman Catholic Church demands permanent celibacy from most of its priests. By contrast celibacy is a choice for Buddhist monks, and is generally focused and temporary.

Contents

Celibacy in Christianity

Christians sometimes see celibacy as imitating the celibate life that Jesus supposedly lead though It is occasionally suggested that Jesus married Mary Magdalene. [1]

The official Roman Catholic position is that clerical celibacy is "a special gift of God by which sacred ministers can more easily remain close to Christ with an undivided heart, and can dedicate themselves more freely to the service of God and their neighbor,[2] and is required of all priests, monks or nuns. Technically, they are to be 'unmarried', the original definition of "celibacy", not non-sexual. Of course, the whole "sex outside of marriage" prohibition basically forbids them any sexual contact for life.

The Bible encourages singleness — Matthew 19:12 (assuming eunuch in this verse is meant figuratively rather than literally[3]), 1 Corinthians 7:7-8. The earliest records of a celibacy requirement are found from the Council of Elvira (4th Century). Sometime before the 12th Century, the Catholic Church formalized this call into compulsory celibacy for its monks, nuns and priests because, as Pope John Paul II stated, "The Church, as the Spouse of Jesus Christ, wishes to be loved by the priest in the total and exclusive manner in which Jesus Christ her Head and Spouse loved her." A cynical argument can be made, however, that this requirement was at least in part that the Church wanted to gain control of land possessed by the priests and bishops. [4]

The Roman Catholic Church does make an exception of the required Celibacy for converts from Anglicanism and for the priests of the Eastern Orthodox Church if they are already married in hopes of attracting them as converts. [5]

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, married men are permitted to be ordained as priests, but one a man becomes a priest, he is no longer permitted to marry. In both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, bishops must be unmarried at the time of appointment. For Roman Catholics, they must have never been married; Eastern Orthodox church permits the consecration of widowers as bishops. The Roman Catholic Church is not obliged to maintain priestly celibacy. The Pope can decree a change at any time.

The biblical view

Paul sees singleness as an important spiritual move, though it must be understood in the context of a belief that the world would end within his lifetime, so procreation was not needed. Sexuality, as with many other worldly drives, pushes the person away from god and focuses them on the sin-filled, dirty "flesh". However, outside of Paul, there is no real mention of celibacy. There is emphasis in both the Old and New Testaments to staying faithful to one's spouse, and rejecting sexual desires before marriage, but not Celibacy. In fact, in Jewish tradition, you could not be a priest (or later, rabbi) without being married.

Criticism

Critics of religious celibacy allege that it is a cause of sexual disorders, including paedophilia; they see it as contributing to the many child sexual abuse scandals which have afflicted the Catholic Church in recent years. [6] [7]" Gordon Rattray Taylor claims that during the mediaeval epoch at times when the Roman Catholic Church succeeded in enforcing celibacy neurotic behaviour and sexual perversions were rife. [8] While important to guard against and watch for, it must be remembered that most people who are celibate will not form deviant desires. Many religions outside of Christianity have a long history of celibacy, there have been accusations of child abuse and non consensual adult sex related to supposedly celibate Buddhist monks. [9]

Other examples

A number of people in the public eye have declared themselves celibate. Morrissey, former lead singer with The Smiths, declared himself celibate in 1983 [10] and Stephen Fry was celibate before coming out as gay.[11]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. Was Jesus Married?
  2. Code of Canon Law, canon 277 §1
  3. Where the King James translation reads "and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake", the New International Version says "and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven".
  4. History of Celibacy in Catholicism: Catholic Priests, Celibacy, Marriage
  5. History of Celibacy in Catholicism: Catholic Priests, Celibacy, Marriage
  6. Sexual Repression: The Malady That Considers Itself the Remedy
  7. These critics include at least one senior church figure, Hamburg Auxiliary Bishop Hans-Jochen Jaschke who was quoted saying "celibate lifestyle can attract people who have an abnormal sexuality and cannot integrate sexuality into their lives. Does Catholic celibacy contribute to child sex abuse?
  8. Mediaeval Sexual Behaviour
  9. Buddhist monks walk away from sex-abuse casesBuddhists believe there are serious Karmic consequences if a monk breaks celibacy and remains a monk, therefore at least in theory there is an incentive for believing Buddhists to avoid this type of crime. By contrast Roman Catholic abusers can go to Confession and afterwards they believe they are forgiven.
  10. No Sex Please, I'm Morrissey, Observer, December, 1992
  11. Stephen Fry: A restless soul, The Independent, 20 September 2004
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Community
Tools
support