Ask a Catholic

[Teuthida]

Interesting stuff about the trinity. Thanks.


Ok, so if it's having a barrier that's the problem then sex while not completely naked shouldn't be allowed either right? Leaving your socks on should be just as bad.

[jeepnut]

Originally Posted by Teuthida

Interesting stuff about the trinity. Thanks.


Ok, so if it's having a barrier that's the problem then sex while not completely naked shouldn't be allowed either right? Leaving your socks on should be just as bad.

I think you're missing my point slightly. The barrier that seperates procreation from the procreative act (sex) is the issue. The Church makes no requirement that spouses be completely naked during sex. If this were the case, there would be no Catholic children concieved in Canada between the months of October and May.

[Professor S]

Just to clarify, I never thought that celibacy led to pedophilia, only that it would attract those looking for a religious cure. The John Jay study is interesting, but it only compares priests against the general population. I would like to see a study against the rates of clergy from other religions that allow marriage.

But moreso, if celibacy isn't called for in the Bible, why mandate it for priests?

[jeepnut]

Originally Posted by Professor S

Just to clarify, I never thought that celibacy led to pedophilia, only that it would attract those looking for a religious cure. The John Jay study is interesting, but it only compares priests against the general population. I would like to see a study against the rates of clergy from other religions that allow marriage.

But moreso, if celibacy isn't called for in the Bible, why mandate it for priests?

Yes, I realized the true focus of your question after my long response, but decided to keep it because it was worthwhile information.

Finding statistics on non-celibate clergy has been difficult. I've only found one source of information. link That article quotes a study by Penn State (ironic) professor Phillip Jenkins title Pedophiles and Priests in which pedophile rates among Catholic priests are placed at between 0.2 and 1.7 percent and among protestant clergy it is placed at between 2 and 3 percent.

The basic truth is that few have looked at the issue with any real scholarly intent and therefore, little exists in the way of solid statistical evidence. I've only found two scholarly studies on Catholic Priests and almost nothing on other denominations. The nature of the Protestant church makes this difficult. There are 40,000+ Protestant denominations and the decentralized nature makes it difficult to compare across denominations. The link I posted in my previous post from Wikipedia even makes it clear that we have little understanding of the issue at large even amongst the general population.

The simplest answer to why priests are called to be celibate is that priests are called to be fathers to all the faithful and not just biologically related offspring. The Church futher emphasizes this by statingthat a priest marries the Church through his priestly vows. It is a devotion to the Church that is akin to a husband's devotion to his wife.

It has a practical aspect as well, priests make around $25,000 to $30,000 and according to some sources, much less. You would have a difficult time raising a family on that. In addition, who pays to send any children to a Catholic school or other expenses related to raising a family?

The Catholic priest is called to focus on the faithful as his family.