I will
be having a debate regarding celibacy and our side is not in favor of practicing
the vow of celibacy. Can you share with me points and views that I can use
to be able to defend our side?
 o begin with, let’s get clear
about what you mean by “practicing the vow of celibacy.” Are you
referring to religious life in general? Well, religious life in general
constitutes a conscious choice of celibacy over marriage, so I don’t
see how you could be trying to argue against practicing celibacy here. It
would be like saying you want to call yourself a vegetarian but still want
to eat meat. It all becomes nonsense.
Thus you must be referring to
the celibacy of the priesthood. The priestly vow of celibacy all goes right
back to the example of Christ Himself, and to the example of the Apostles
whom He taught personally. In fact, Christ said plainly, “Whoever loves
father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son
or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever does not take up
his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life
will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew
10:37–39).
This saying is difficult enough
for most Catholics, since hardly anyone today takes it seriously—that
is, if they’ve ever read it in the first place. But it’s even more
demanding for a priest, who must extend his care to far more souls than a
personal family. The priest must show his people their
sins, lead them into sorrow and repentance for those
sins, and offer them the only healing available
for their broken lives: the
Eucharist.
The Eucharist is not just the
core of the priesthood, it’s also the core of all social interaction.
A priest, as the minister of that Eucharist, must lead people into a profound
mystical surrender to God. He must teach them
that no other person can fill our essential human emptiness except Christ.
He must teach them that nothing can heal our
brokenness except the broken bread of the
Eucharist.
And he must teach them that marriage
heals nothing. Sexual activity which is open to procreation between a man
and a woman within the indissoluble bond of marriage and family is an act
of service to God in raising children. In marriage, as Saint Paul
said, the woman must be submissive to her husband—as the Church must
be submissive to Christ—and the man must love his wife as Christ loves
His Church.
Marriage, then, is a special
sort of ministry, a small reflection of Christ Himself. And so, what does
a priest, who performs all ministries, who formally represents Christ Himself
to everyone, need with marriage? I can’t see anything that a real priest
would possibly need. And neither did Pope John Paul II—which is why
he declared the celibacy of the priesthood a subject not open to
debate.
And so, there is nothing to
debate.
And if you persist in wanting
to debate it, then it shows clearly that you
don’t love and trust Christ enough to follow His own example of self-denial
and obedience.
  
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