Monday, April 23, 2007
Christ's Precious Gift to his Church
The Importance of Priestly Celibacy by
Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy
Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy
At the beginning of the 40th anniversary of the publication of the Encyclical "Sacerdotalis Caelibatus" of His Holiness Paul VI, the Congregation for the Clergy deems it opportune to recall the magisterial teaching of this important papal document.
Indeed, priestly celibacy is Christ's precious gift to his Church, a gift one needs to meditate on anew and to strengthen, especially in today's profoundly secularized world.
Scholars note that the origins of priestly celibacy date back to apostolic times. Father Ignace de la Potterie writes: "Scholars generally agree that the obligation of celibacy, or at least of continence, became canon law from the fourth century onwards. ... However, it is important to observe that the legislators of the fourth and fifth centuries affirmed that this canonical enactment was based on an apostolic tradition.
"The Council of Carthage (390), for instance, said: 'It was fitting that those who were at the service of the divine sacraments be perfectly continent (continentes esse in omnibus), so that what the Apostles taught and antiquity itself maintained, we too may observe.'"
In the same way, Alfons-Marie Stickler mentions biblical arguments of apostolic inspiration that advocate celibacy.
Read: Sacerdotalis Caelibatus
Labels: Celibacy, Encyclical, Holy Father, Priesthood
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