By MINA AMSO
At a recent debate organised by Catholic Young Adults Community [CYAC] in Auckland, the topic was “Should Catholic priests be allowed to marry?”
Some background: In the Latin Rite, according to the Code of Canon Law (277, no 1), “clerics are obliged to observe perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, and therefore are bound to celibacy, which is a special gift of God by which sacred ministers can adhere more easily to Christ with an undivided heart, and are able to dedicate themselves more freely to the service of God and humanity”.
Married men can be ordained as permanent deacons, and there are cases of married ministers of other denominations becoming Catholic and then being ordained as priests.
In the Eastern churches, a different discipline applies – bishops are chosen from among celibates, but married men can be ordained as priests and deacons.
In both the East and the West, once a man is ordained, he cannot subsequently marry.
The moderator of the Auckland debate, 32-year-old Joshua King, says it was “great fun and a worthwhile event”.
“It was good for people to understand that there are many things that go into Church disciplines like this, which most of us just have no idea about.”
Mr King works as the national campus director for an ecumenical pastoral apologetics ministry called “Thinking Matters”. He said that, while the moot was phrased as to whether priests should be allowed to get married, he believed they shouldn’t.
“It is just a fact that, with a healthy community, living a celibate life can be just as rewarding, if not more rewarding, than being married.
“Being celibate is a true blessing so that one can be free to fully pursue the ministry that burns within their heart. Any argument against the celibacy of the priesthood seems to be something that could easily be mitigated by a good pastoral bishop, or clear expectations surrounding the discernment and formation of priests, or even just in the taking up of more permanent deacons by the many eligible married men in parishes all around the world.”
He says that he can’t see any reason for such a change to be made in the Church. As a former Protestant, Mr King is “very glad that the Church has this discipline for its priests”.
Arguments in favour of allowing priests to marry included the belief that marriage is a natural and healthy expression of human relationships, and that allowing priests to marry could help address issues such as a shortage of clergy, loneliness, and instances of celibacy being difficult for some individuals to maintain.
“The affirmative team had some great rhetoric and anecdotes for pushing a number of emotionally powerful arguments. However, I think the moot was not in their favour,” Mr King said.
Lawyer Nick Robertson’s childhood priest, Fr Martin Flatman, was and still is a married priest. Mr Robertson, 27, recently moved to Auckland from Mosgiel after attending Hearts Aflame Summer School in 2022/2023 and meeting people from CYAC. His love for a debate and argument brought him to this debate.
Mr Robertson was on the supportive team for this debate, adopting a “much more practical line of argument”.
He said that Lutheran pastors and their families are looked after well by parishes when they move, so we have good modern-day examples of what married priests might look like.
He also said that the Church has had married priests in the past, and even some Popes who are saints were married [became priests after being married]. There have been at least four Popes who were legally married before taking Holy Orders: St Hormisdas (514–523), Adrian II (867–872), John XVII (1003) and Clement IV (1265–68) – though Hormisdas was already a widower by the time of his election.
Mr Robertson added that some priests suffer from loneliness and alcoholism, and would greatly benefit from a family to return to.
He said that the negating team took a more theological approach, which was “a surprise” to him. However his personal stance on the matter is a strong opposition to a priest marrying.
“I believe there [are some] sound prudential reasons that it’s not permitted in the East or West. Even Protestants, in my experience, want their pastors to be in a stable marriage, he said.
“A parish or community where Father is ‘on the hunt’ or even just open to marriage does not seem like it could be a safe or stable environment, especially for women – being a spiritual father and looking for a spouse amongst your spiritual daughters seem fundamentally incompatible states of life.”
Mr Robertson said that this discussion “is a useful way to talk about issues that the Church is facing”, especially the priestly vocation crisis.
On the other hand, those in favour of maintaining the celibacy requirement often argue that it is a long-standing tradition within the Church, and seen as a way for clergy to fully dedicate themselves to their religious duties without the responsibilities of family life.
On the negating team was Niel Kulkarni, a 24-year-old junior medical doctor who described himself as “a cradle Catholic”, taking on this opportunity as a means to learn more and grow in this subject.
“While my stance prior to preparing for this debate was superficially equivocal, learning what the Church has taught throughout the centuries was certainly eye-opening, and has me leaning in favour of keeping things as they are.”
He said that, while his team angled their points from the theological and historical perspective, the affirming team used “personal anecdotes quite effectively” in revealing the practical, day-to-day challenges of celibacy.
There are a few reasons why priests shouldn’t marry, Mr Kulkani said.
“Firstly, there is the conflicting matter of having our ‘spiritual father’, potentially also looking for a woman to marry, assumedly amongst his congregation. Secondly, from our understanding, it is theologically incongruent, and could be considered a form of bigamy [the offence of marrying someone while already married to another person], as a priest is meant to be set apart by God, and in the person of Christ is to have one bride only.
“Finally, it is not Church teaching to allow an ordained priest to marry.”
Fr Mahir Murad, Chaldean Catholic priest at Our Lady Guardian of Plants in Melbourne, was ordained as a priest in April this year after years of being married to the love of his life, Rasha. They have two children.
He said that the Church maintains the sanctity of the priesthood, stating that, once a priest is ordained, they are always a priest.
Fr Mahir said that St Paul, who was among the first apostles, promoted the virtues of celibacy, both for those dedicated to serving the kingdom like him, and for Christians in general (1 Corinthians 7:6,32-40).
“The early Church followed Christ’s advice to practice celibacy while serving the kingdom, and preached and practised it accordingly.”
He said that it is difficult to alter a law that has been in place for over a thousand years.
“I think the reason is that big changes can be a source of fear as we enter the unknown, and that can frighten the Church. In the event that the Church decides to alter the Church’s rules [allowing priests to get married], the crucial question is, what will be done with over 400,000 celibate priests who have taken a vow of chastity or have advanced in age?”
Mr Kulkarni said that his personal gain from the debate went “beyond the debate moot”.
“It instilled in me a great reverence for the holy priesthood, and the hands that hold our Lord. The call to celibacy asks those who choose it to image our Lord, in the most perfect way possible.”
Mr Robertson said that the debate offered a chance to discuss loneliness in the priesthood too.
“Particularly relevant, as smaller families and much more mobile populations means priests often no longer live in the same community as their families – and the dearth [lack of] of lay volunteers at parishes.”
Mr Robertson said that, as the ratio of priests to laity continues to get worse, more conversations are needed around how priests can be enabled to perform their roles by the laity, without the laity forcefully taking over the priestly role, or turning them into “sacrament dispensers”.
He said that a serious consideration of priests’ own pastoral needs will need to be addressed as well.
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