Celibacy of Roman Catholic Priests

Notwithstanding the divine commendation of marriage given in the Jewish Scriptures and in the New Testament (Heb. XIII., 4), the opinion had become prevalent, even before the time of Christ, that celibacy was favorable to holiness. Among the Jewish sect of the Essenes, accordingly, a life of celibacy was held in the highest esteem. In the first Christian churches every one was left at liberty to marry or not as he thought fit, but the objection to those who married a second time had become so general that the Apostle Paul counseled such Christian converts as were in widowhood to remain so. In the second century after Christ, the unmarried life was very generally extolled; accordingly (although there was no express law against the marriage of clergy) many, especially of the bishops, remained unmarried; a second marriage, in their case, was already strictly prohibited. As the Bishops of Rome rose in consideration, and gradually developed a firmer church government, they called upon all who belonged to the clerical order to live for the Church alone, and not marry. It was not until the sixth century, however, that Provincial synods began expressly to interdict marriage on the part of the clergy. The Council of Tours (566) and the Emperor Justinian passed stringent edicts in regard to the celibacy of the clergy, but the Greek Church steadily opposed these laws; the council held at Constantinople in 692, declared, in opposition to the Church of Rome, that priests and deacons might marry according to ancient custom and the ordinance of the Apostles. The orthodox Greek Church has continued to adhere to this decision, but a priest or deacon is not allowed to marry a second time, and only an unmarried priest can be chosen as bishop or patriarch. For several centuries the Church of Rome continued its endeavors to enforce the law of celibacy on its clergy, but with only partial success, until the time of Gregory VII.; in a council held at Rome in 1074, a positive decree was passed, forbidding the clergy to marry, under the penalty of excommunication. The decree met with the most violent opposition in all countries, but Gregory succeeded in carrying it out with the greatest rigor. The leading Reformers declared against the celibacy of the clergy as being without the warrant of Scripture, and Luther set the example of marrying; this step was not without its effect upon the Roman Catholic clergy, and the contest has been renewed again and again in every century; in fact, every attempt at innovation within the Church of Rome is connected with an attack on celibacy, the abolition of which would deeply affect the constitution and position of that church. A bull of Pope Pius IX., in 1847, added fresh stringency to the law of celibacy and greater condemnation to its infringement.