The Importance of Celibacy in the Priesthood

**Long Post Alert! This is a paper I wrote for Ecclesiology using, per our prof's preference, sources limited to classroom texts. It is by no means an exhaustive article, but I do hope it assists you in understanding, truly, why the discipline of celibacy is so important. I have marked the endnotes which give greater context to the quotes and info summarized. Further, I've "blogified" the references so please don't use the format as an example of proper end note formatting! ***

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The importance of the Priesthood of Jesus Christ cannot be denied by the faithful. Yet today, the ministerial Priesthood is under attack from every direction; there are those who don’t understand the power given through ordination, there are those who think it’s possible to ordain women, and many who believe the discipline of celibacy should come to an end. Clearly, the priesthood in general is not understood by many, nor is the discipline and charism of celibacy. We will look at the importance of the Priesthood in several contexts, including (but not limited to) their relationship to the Sacraments, the indelible character belonging to men who are called to stand in persona Christi, and how the nobility of celibacy gives greater freedom to those men to be more perfectly conformed to Jesus Christ in service to His Church.

Perhaps the first question to address is this: who are priests called to be? The Priesthood is not a career, but a vocation. The Acts of the Apostles 6:3-6 (1) reveals to us the importance of Ordination, for the authority passed on to those who are called is expressed very specifically through the Apostles; or, today, through the Successors of the Apostles, the Bishops. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in Called to Communion, refuted the modernist notion that the priesthood is about pop-psychology’s advancement of “self-realization”, or that it is another method of employment in which one can develop one’s own talents and gifts. Rather, he goes right to the heart of the matter and explains that the priesthood calls men to die to themselves in order that Christ may live in and through them. Holy Orders is a Sacrament which sends the men on a mission to give what does not otherwise belong to them, to bear something that is committed to their charge. (2) It is an awesome responsibility, requiring not ambition, but selflessness.

Yet, what is the purpose of this precious mission? “Through Holy Orders men are set aside and consecrated to God, to offer the Sacrifice of the Eucharistic Victim, to nourish the flock of the faithful with the Bread of Angels and the food of doctrine…” (3) The purpose of the Priesthood is to stand in the person of Christ so that through his mortal fingers, Christ may come Sacramentally to His People. Through Holy Orders, those called by God to the priesthood receive the power over Christ’s own body, to consecrate the bread and wine, changing them into the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ. In that moment, it is not the priest who does anything; it is Jesus Christ. The priest becomes an instrument of God, as it were, disappearing so that Christ can be made present. It belongs specifically to the nature of the priesthood to lay down his own life so that Jesus might live through him, may be made present through him, and nowhere is this reality more profound than at the consecration where he states, “This is my Body; this is my Blood.”

The grace of salvation, which comes to us through the Sacraments, can only ordinarily be made present to the world through the ministerial priesthood. It is for this primary purpose they are called and consecrated. It is for the life not only of the Church, but of the whole world, that these men are called to stand and serve in the person of Christ. All that he does is ordered towards the salvation of souls, and the unity of the Mystical Body, the Church. It is through the Sacraments that all are called into this body, and through the Sacrament of Penance, the laity and priesthood alike are purified and prepared to receive the greatest of the Sacraments, the saving Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. (4)

The priesthood is a sign of contradiction to the world, for it is a visible mark of the folly and the glory of the Cross. We see this especially in the vow of celibacy, for this is a charism the world rejects and outright attacks. Yet in looking at the priesthood with an understanding of who and what these men are called to be, celibacy is a considerable factor in how they can be most perfectly conformed to Christ and most perfectly lead the people through the Cross of Christ and into the Resurrection.

It is the grace of celibacy that allows the priest to enter into the selflessness that especially conforms him to Jesus Christ. Celibacy, in fact, is a sign that the love of God overcomes all.

Yet, what is this motivation to renounce all, especially marriage and children, for the sake of the Kingdom? In a world such as ours, what causes men to be so willing to give up so much? Charles Cardinal Journet observes in Theology of the Church, “Only the love that moves one to renounce all can, in the Church, sustain that love which makes an instrument of all.” (5) Those who, through marriage or other more temporal states in life must by necessity be engaged in the use of earthly things are hindered, in some ways, of achieving the ability to be focused primarily on the needs of the Church. They are, by necessity, divided. In being willing to give everything to Christ’s Church, the priest is renouncing something worldly in order to be free to allow grace to sustain him and make him completely into an instrument of God.

In returning briefly to the discussion of the purpose of the priesthood, the role of the priest is to devote himself to sanctifying activities, yet to exist with and suffer with the people, allowing them to largely handle the temporal concerns of the world. It is his role to instruct, to preach, to lead, to remain present in all they do, but always directing his flock towards the greater goal, and providing the spiritual resources to aid them both spiritually and in their temporal works so that they will continue to grow in sanctity. Celibacy, then, is liberating. It is a liberty gained from the renunciation of the activities of marriage for the sake of the Church, yet this renunciation isn’t only celibacy, but something more. It enters into poverty of spirit, of poverty of self, a self-emptying which allows him the freedom to become an alter Christus; another Christ.

It is this very poverty which makes him an instrument of God. “What passes to the world through it is not the poverty of the minister but the riches of Christ.” (6) Herein we see the folly and the glory of the Cross; for the priest is a sign of contradiction. In a world of hedonism, he has given up everything the world claims will make them happy, and therein, not only does he find true wealth, but he gives that wealth to his flock. A life of religious servitude, as in the priesthood, should be free him as much as possible from all the concerns of a material life. He is placed into a position to give what he does not himself possess, to enable him to do what he cannot do in and of himself. (7) It entails a dependence upon God, upon spiritual realities, preferring those to temporal means. And therein, the priest finds the Cross, he is conformed to the Cross, bearing out body and soul the scourge of both the folly and glory of the Cross as he is liberated to become more conformed to Christ in whose place he serves.

Celibacy is a higher calling, a more noble calling, and, one could argue in this context, a necessary component of the priesthood. It is a more perfect way to live, ordered to and justified through service for the general good of the Church. There is more perfection in happiness than in the married state, for those who are celibate are free to focus more completely on sanctifying work, while those who are married must, by necessity, be concerned for the cares of his family. (8) How can a priest function so divided? How can he fully empty himself in order to live for Christ and His Church as a whole if he must also be especially devoted to a wife and children? How can he be concerned with the affairs of God if he is constantly halted by the roadblocks of the world?

Virginity and Celibacy makes the body and soul more similar to God, conforming one more perfectly to Christ. It is more akin to the angelic state. Matthew 19:10-12 addresses the necessity of the celibate life for the sake of the kingdom, (9) and in 1 Corinthians 7:25-26, Paul expounds on the fact that those who remain celibate also enjoy a freedom not available to those who are bound by marriage. (10) Indeed, the vow of celibacy is also binding, as much as is marriage, but within those bonds, the priest is granted the ability to be more perfectly conformed to Christ in order to better lay down his life for His Church.

In considering the nature and purpose of the priesthood, in considering the character that defines their mission, and the sacrifice of the one in whose place they are called to serve, clearly we must also recognize the necessary freedom of response to that intimate call. It is not an easy life; it is one of sacrifice, of selflessness, and only those who are willing to give everything so that Christ might live through them can receive this life. The consideration of celibacy is an important factor for it seems that only through this charism can a man freely and fully give of himself, and truly die in order that the Church might have life through the gift of salvation.

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FOOTNOTES:

1. Acts 6: 3-6 : “Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And what they said pleased the whole multitude, and they shoes Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon and Parmenas and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands upon them.”

2. Called to Communion, Ratzinger, p 115: “This is precisely what we mean when we call the ordination of priests a sacrament: ordination is not about the development of one’s own powers and gifts. It is not the appointment of a man as a functionary because he is especially good at it, or because it suits him, or simply because it strikes him as a good way to earn his bread; it is nota question of a job in which someone secures his own livelihood by his own abilities, perhaps in order to rise later to something better.”

3. Mystici Corporis Christi, 20

4. Charles Cardinal Journet, Theology of the Church p. 166: “There will be all throughout history…men incorporated in Christ the Priest, participating in the spiritual unction of his sovereign priesthood, drawn in the wake of his divine liturgy. The cultic mediation of the Head is transmitted to and diffused throughout the entire Body….These latter must now work through him, with him, and in him for the salvation of the world…The Church will exist in her fullness only where the priesthood of Christ - through Christian worship – continues to be exercised.”

5. Journet, p. 270

6. Journet, p 114

7. Called to Communion, p115: “Sacrament means: I give what I myself cannot give; I do something that is not my work; I am on a mission nand have become the bearer of that which another has committed to my charge.”

8. Journet, p. 264 “All things being equal, it is not the state of marriage that profits the Church the most. There is more perfection and happiness, as she herself declares it, in remaining keeping celibate than in living in the married state.”

9. Mt 19: 10-12: “The disciples said to him, ‘If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.’ But he said to them, ‘Not all men can receive this precept, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it.’”

10. 1 Cor 7:25-26 : “Now concerning the unmarried, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. I think that in view of the impending distress it is well for a person to remain as he is. “

A Married Priesthood?

In my last job, I worked with a man who was an Evangelical Pastor - part time.

He had once had his own community, of which he was the Pastor, and was very candid with me with regard to some of the struggles he and his family endured.  At the time of these conversations, I was in the beginning of my conversion back to the Church, had fallen in love with Christ, and was happy to have a friend with whom I could speak of theological and spiritual things.  He had been raised Catholic himself, but had left the Church in favor of an Evangelical belief system, and still had a great deal of respect for the Catholic Church. Of course, he clearly disagreed with many of the teachings, especially that of Jesus Christ present in the Eucharist, but supported a celibate clergy.

Why?

In the Catholic worldview, it comes down to the meaning of Vocation, and, in the Latin Church, the discipline of a celibate clergy.  There are many who take the position that ending this discipline would also end the "vocations crisis".  I've said it before and I'll say it again;  the bigger crisis is that of catechesis and, even more greatly still...logic.   

My friend described to me why he was no longer in full-time ministry.  He loved his wife. He loved his family;  he was vowed to them and dedicated to them.  Yet, as Pastor, he was also dedicated to his church.  His flock needed him, often at all hours of the night.  It put a strain on his family, it put a strain on him, and  finally he realized he had to make a choice between being a Pastor to his flock, or being a Father to his family.

He chose his family. In the Roman (Latin) Catholic world, we explain it thus:  Marriage and family is his Vocation.  Everything is secondary to that.   

He disagreed with that assessment, of course, but it's all semantics.  After all, he was Evangelical.  If he agreed, he would have returned to the Catholic Church. 

But I digress.  This afternoon, Fr. Pelletier directs us to an article written by Patricia Dixon,  now Catholic, but writing to us from her perspective of her time as a Protestant Pastor's wife.  She doesn't just address the oft-cited financial considerations, but the spiritual and emotional impact as well.  

I suspect that the issues she addresses would have my friend nodding right along, and perhaps even our Eastern Rite Catholic brothers and sisters might agree.  If I have any Eastern Catholic readers, especially clergy, I'd love their take on Mrs. Dixon's words. 

Here is an excerpt from her article: 

On top of this, a pastor's wife and children are themselves without pastoral care. No man, however talented or dedicated, can be pastor and husband or father to the same people. The objectivity required of the pastoral role is missing. But the minister's family cannot seek spiritual direction and sustenance elsewhere; loyalty and the need to avoid the appearance of a split in the family require that they remain at his church. When the father's career and the family's spiritual life are one and the same, the spiritual life suffers badly.

A priest or minister is seldom off duty. Any family activity is likely to be interrupted, often for the most trivial of reasons. A vacation at home is impossible for a clergyman's family; if he's around, he's assumed to be available to his flock. The bum-out rate among Protestant pastors is very high. If relaxing the celibacy rule increases the number of priests, it will have to increase it enough to make up for the large number who will leave the priesthood when they, like so many of their Protestant colleagues, find the toll it takes on the families impossible to accept.

Now, I will address one thing, because if I don't, guaranteed it will come up in the combox:   she takes a parish that is non-typical as her example, no doubt to be able to provide for the most obvious and most difficult situation, although under the premise that it is already an affluent parish.   I actually attend a parish that matches her scenario to some degrees, (affluency...not too sure about that. Not in my city),  and as I know that only 49-51% of ALL REGISTERED FAMILIES actually contribute to the parish...the prospects of providing for a married Priesthood gives me shivers. 

If we allow a married priesthood, we can kiss all of our beloved parish homes goodbye. 

Please read her article, ESPECIALLY if you are in the camp that thinks a married priesthood is the way to go.  Please consider the words of a woman who has been there, look beyond the political view you might hold, and see the reality of the impact upon the priest, the family, and the parish if the Church were to drop the discipline of celibacy. 

If we truly love our priests, if we truly pray for them, then we should be desiring their good, as they desire ours. It seems to me that a married priesthood as the norm would be destructive to us all.

Today is the world day of prayer for Vocations. Pray.

If we want more priests, the answer is not to change the discipline, but to pray, fast, and sacrifice for those who may have a Vocation to answer that call so that they may offer the Sacrifice of the Mass on our behalf.  

Pope John Paul II's Prayer for Vocations

Holy and provident Father, You are the Lord of the vineyard and the harvest and You give each a just reward for their work. In your design of love You call men and women to work with You for the salvation of the world. We thank You for Jesus Christ, your living word, who has redeemed us from our sins and is among us to assist us in our poverty. Guide the flock to which You have promised possession of the kingdom. Send new workers into your harvest and set in the hearts of pastors faithfulness to your plan of salvation, perseverance in their vocation and holiness of life.

Christ Jesus, who on the shores of the Sea of Galilee called the Apostles and made them the foundation of the Church and bearers of your Gospel, in our day, sustain your people on its journey. Give courage to those whom You call to follow You in the priesthood and the consecrated life, so that they may enrich God's field with wisdom of your Word. Make them docile instruments of your love in everyday service of their brothers and sisters.

Spirit of holiness, who pour out your gifts on all believers and, especially, on those called to be Christ's ministers, help young people to discover the beauty of the divine call. Teach them the true way of prayer, which is nourished by the Word of God. Help them to read the signs of the times, so as to be faithful interpreters of your Gospel and bearers of salvation.

Mary, Virgin who listened and Virgin of the Word of God made flesh in your womb, help us to be open to the Word of the Lord, so that, having been welcomed and meditated upon, it may grow in our hearts. Help us to live like You the beatitudes of believers and to dedicate ourselves with unceasing charity to evangelizing all those who seek your Son. Grant that we may serve every person, becoming servants of the Word we have heard, so that remaining faithful to it we may find our happiness in living it.

Amen.

WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR PRIESTS!

Tomorrow, May 30, is BOTH the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus AND the World Day of Prayer for Priests

This is significant, for who is Christ but our High Priest? And who is the Priest at your parish, the one you call "Father", but one chosen by Christ to follow in His steps, who in turn, calls you and teaches you to conform yourself to Christ?

From the website above:

It is timely that we express our appreciation to so many priests who are indeed a daily reflection of Christ's love for his people. We wish to express our love for our priests and provide them with the support and encouragement they deserve. We express great joy in affirming and encouraging our priests as the servants of God's people. We are also encouraging people around the world to stop whatever they are doing at 3pm local time and spend a quiet moment praying in thanksgiving for our priests and contemplating the gift of priesthood.

The priesthood is a gift to us all; it was Padre Pio who observed that the world can survive more easily without the sun than it can without the Mass. And indeed, what happens at Mass? Heaven touches earth. At the behest of whom? God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, through the consecrated hands of the priest.

The world could not survive without the priesthood!

Irony

I used to be terrified of priests. Not because they ever did anything wrong, but because I did. I had a guilty conscience. I had fallen away, and my perception of priests was that they were the holiest of the holy, they'd be able to see right through me, and if they ever met me they'd drag me immediately off to the Confessional to be reconciled to God. Because that was what I needed and I knew it.

But I didn't want to go. God is merciful, though, and through a long winding road, He finally brought me to Confession and made me face who I really was; but more importantly, who He was calling me to be. And I made that 12-year Confession face-to-face to a priest I'll never forget. While I am an affectionate person, I do have a strong sense of boundaries, and after I was absolved, I came very close to throwing my arms around the dear priest who talked me through my distress and revealed to me the true face of Jesus Christ. He had called me the "prodigal daughter" and was overjoyed I'd come Home, finally, and to this day I wish I HAD followed that impulse, for I would have been hugging Christ himself in that joyful moment. I only wish I knew who he was so I could pray for him by name.

I was still terrified of priests for a long time, for it was hard to leave the life I was living; it's aways hard to dig yourself out of pit of your own creation and one the world helps you dig more deeply but has no interest in building steps for escape. But I was serious about wanting to really live a life in Christ, and God did not abandon me and in fact, used His priests in various ways. Since that time, I've come to know the priests at the parish I attend; we've had many as we are a large parish so they send us newly ordained priests for a couple years and then send them onward to be on their own.

Not only have these priests provided me with the Sacraments which I so desperately need, but they've provided me with an example of holiness, encouraged me in trying to be a better human being, and even a Saint (an ongoing joke with one of them...I wore out my "extension", though!). The priests I've known have helped me teach RCIA especially when I began, and remained available for questions as I prepared my talks. Two of them provided me references for two different grad schools, even though they really didn't know me well enough at the time of those letters, but apparently felt that someone seeking to be more Catholic was a good thing! And I was accepted to both schools (so the must have lied for me....) Those same two also provided me with references for my current job (a church), and their references were crucial!

But it goes beyond the Sacraments and Administrative things; these men who have given their lives to Christ really ARE our Fathers. As a woman, maybe it's easier for me to understand the image of the "Bride of Christ" that is the Church, and see truly how these men have given up everything in order to bring Christ to us all! They love children, they love families, and they know they will never have their "own". Yet I have to wonder how often our parish mimics a large family, and how often Father goes home (Fathers plural in our case!) and rubs his temples, willing the headache away, realizing that even adults are his children? And we're WORSE! His work is largely thankless and he goes from a harsh funeral one moment to a joyful parishioner who's been greatly blessed in some way, to a wedding, to hearing Confessions (of even prodigal daughters like myself), to even his own family tragedies. And yet, in all of this, he continues to serve Christ by serving us and leading us.

Every time I say "Father" I mean it. Every time I see a priest, I'm thankful to Christ for calling him and sending him across my path. I'm thankful to the priest who baptized me, who heard my First Confession, gave me my First Communion, and the Bishop who Confirmed me. I'm thakful for all those priests who have ever been there to provide an example, lend an ear, respond to an email, and offer friendship in Christ for a tiny soul seeking to do God's will.


I will be praying hard tomorrow for priests, especially at 3 pm, and I ask you all to join me and the rest of the world in doing so.

Were it not for the priests God has sent across my path, I don't know where I'd be...certainly not where I am now. Pray for priests. Pray for their holiness, their strength in living out their vows, their Fatherhood to us all...and for an increase in many more!

Thank you, Fathers, and maybe you don't hear it enough, so let this resonate with you:

WE LOVE YOU!
And we will NEVER stop praying for you!
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Priestly Celibacy and Female Ordination

This topic comes up over and over again and I have to admit that at one point in my life, I also had not thought critically about this before suggesting that we allow priests to marry.

I obvioulsy did not understand marriage. I obviously did not have the ability to think critically; I was just spouting the same trash as groups like Call to Action and Voice of the Faithful. They don't understand Catholic theology and they don't seem to care. Too many people are wrapped up in what they believe and what they want to bother paying attention to what makes sense.

I, for one, am sick and tired of the rampaging minority. They're making American Catholics look like a bunch of fools, and only a few of us are really fools.

Let's think critically. What does a priest do? He celebrates Mass, and he's the only one among us with the authority to do so. That's why he's a spiritual leader, and that's why we call him Father. But his title is so much more than symbolism; it is Biblical and it is real. When a priest is ordained, it is a marriage ceremony between the Church and him; and each parish is his family.

What does a Marriage do? A marriage creates children, and in the case of a priest, we, the laity as a whole, are his spouse and the children are the progeny of the work of the Holy Spirit. The priest does not run the Church; he heads it and he leads us spiritually, as a good father should. We are family and we also work to keep the parish up in running; we provide money, we provide work, we provide society and even food. We clothe the poor and feed the hungry. And all the time, new converts come into the Church and infants are baptized into God's family.

Now we have to discuss again what a priest does: he administers the sacraments; Baptism, Reconciliation (Confession), Communion, Confirmation, Matrimony, Annointing of the sick, and if he has the authority, Holy Orders. What does all this entail? His entire life. The priest, when he is ordained, (meaning: sent), gives his life for his flock. He renounces the world in favor of helping the world find eternal life. He shepherds his flock. The teachings of the Church are the pastures and define the boundaries of the pasture land, and it is his job to protect us. Just as a father defines the parameters of where he will allow his children to go, so does a priest. A priest has a full time job; he has nary an hour to himself and if he does, he must be praying. He cannot do his job without the Lord at his side. He is on call at all hours for he cannot predict when one of his children/sheep may need his authority at their bedside to send them on their way if they need to go and meet Jesus in the next world. He constantly has people in need of his attention.

The world would have us all believe that Marriage is only about sex and lust and the convenience of tax breaks, but to follow that philosophy is death. The world that seeks to teach this also calls as a solution the idea of the renunciation of priestly celibacy. Big surprise. As though sex is going to change anything.

The reality is that those religious orders and lay orders that call out for married priests are graying and thinning out. They may heartfully believe they are encouraging vocations, however the Holy Spirit is speaking to many and the true measure is in the real vocations; for both men and women religious and for priests, there is an upwards trend in late vocations, and for orthodoxy. Now that the outcry of the dissidents is dying out along with the fading of their hair color and health, the true voice of our Shepherd, our Triune God, is being heard, even by those late in life. My theory is that if so many had bothered to think critically, we would never have had a shortage in priests. The very dissonance between culture and real faith is the cause of the vocations shortage; crying out for non-celibate priests has prevented young men from aspiring to the seminary.

A priest is married to the Church. Let's explore this idea. Step back for a moment and consider what you know about the Church; consider her trappings. The Church is a living Church, and therefore is referred to by a personal pronoun: she, not "he". The Church is feminine in nature; consider the statues, the classic architecture throughout history; consider the music, the reverence in prayer. Isn't all of this very feminine? The contemplation, the meditation, these are classicly feminine atributes and practices women take up far more easily than most men. And yet, this does not exclude men, for the Church is both male and female in practice, but in presentation, very feminine.

Just as a zygote in biology is always feminine, that is "X", in order to become a male embryo, a "Y" is needed. All men are partially female at the foundation of their very personhood, just as the Church, as X, needs the priest to add the Y in order to come to fruition. This cycle is completed at ordination, just as it is completed in marriage.

God has ordered the world in such a way that male and female cannot exist without each other, and the union brings life at all levels of being, including spiritually.

It does not make sense to have married priests; for to have them would be akin to polygamy. Speaking as a woman, if I am married, I want to come first in my husband's life. I want him home to help me raise our children, not off at all hours blessing people annointing people, etc. I need him, too. I have a friend who was "ordained" a Protestant Pastor, and he left his full time ministry. Why? Because he could not devote himself to his family and he correctly surmised that his family came first. I will leave you to figure this out for yourself, or are you too enlightened to read between the lines?

It absolutely slays me that those who cry loudest for priests to be allowed to marry are women; the very women who would have to embrace the self-sacrifice needed in order to be a wife of a priest. I really have to question if any of them have any idea what self-sacrifice means. Furthermore, if they did become the priest's woman, they would be the woman left behind; they would always play second fiddle. Do they really want this? No, probably not. It goes against their entire enlightened being. But that doesn't stop these people from spewing rhetoric they clearly do not really understand.

I would never want to be the wife of a priest. If I was to give that level of sacrifice, I'd prefer to be the spouse of Christ himself.

Oh, WAIT! The Church provides religious communities! Nuns! Sisters! Brides of Christ!

Again, I'll leave you to consider this.

The next step for the Loud Obnoxious Minority is to cry out in a tantrum for female priests. Never mind celibacy, because most of them are also advocates for murder of unborn children and disobediece to true authority so what is a little sex on the side? For illicit sacraments of someone who does not understand their true origin?

It makes no sense for priests to be female. Go back and read what I already wrote. Female and female do not beget children. An XX gene and an XX gene cannot reproduce. An XY and an XY cannot reproduce. The Church is female, and the priest is male, and though his sacrifice and through the sacrifices of the Church, "children" of a sort are born.

A female priest cannot bear these children for there is no power in the world to beget life to a disobedient woman. The only progeny there cannot be of God.

A female priest in the Catholic Church is a lesbian relationship. It makes no sense and the parts do not match.

If you can really think critically and if you are truly enlightened, you will see that those who are calling for the end of celibacy and the beginning of priestesses are not speaking for and of the Lord. They are thinking of themselves; they are advancing their own personal agenda. They have not taken time to listen to God, to be open to the Holy Spirit and they are at outright war against Jesus Christ himself, no matter how much they throw his name around.

Stop. Think. Pray. Open your eyes and take the time to really listen to Jesus, and no matter how far away you are, Jesus will speak to you, and he will not ever contradict himself or the true teachings of the Catholic Church.