Catholic Parents OnLine

On Celibacy and the Recent Petition from Some Priests in the Twin Cities

by Fr. Joseph Gallatin

I recently received a letter that was, to say the least, unsettling. It confirmed what I had been hearing about some plans that were being formulated by several priests of the Archdiocese. They wished to make a public statement calling into question the need for an important part of priestly life in the discipline of our Church: celibacy.

Perhaps you have heard that some priests in some dioceses – as near to us as the Diocese of New Ulm – have made public statements asking the bishops of the United States to allow “an open discussion” (whatever that means) about making priestly celibacy optional. In November some priests were invited to a meeting for the purpose of making a similar statement in the Twin Cities. The only priests who were invited to this meeting were those whom the organizers supposed would be like-minded.

The letter that priests received on December 2 was a result of that meeting. It was sent to all priests in the Archdiocese, inviting us to sign a petition addressed to Bishop Wilton Gregory, who is the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The letter listed 58 priests who agreed with the statement and who would like more priests to join them in making this request. The majority of priests, however, do not agree with this statement. They embraced the celibate life freely when they were ordained, and are quite happy living the life of priestly celibacy. It is worth noting that of the 58 priests whose names were listed on this initial letter, only seven were ordained within the last 25 years. Only two were ordained in the last decade! Most of the 58 priests were ordained in the 1960s and 1970s, and are not far from retirement.

Of those whose names were included in the initial letter, one removed his name and did not sign the petition. More priests added their names until 113 priests in all signed the version that was sent to Bishop Gregory and the media. I would like to tell you a little bit about those 113 priests (who make up 24.6% of the 460 active and retired priests in the Archdiocese, according to the Archbishop’s communications office).

There are two kinds of priests: diocesan priests and members of religious orders. Of the 113 signers, members of seven religious orders account for 21 priests, members of other dioceses account for 3 priests, 1 priest is on a leave of absence, and 88 are priests of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. This is pertinent because the phrasing must be “priests in the Archdiocese,” not “priests of the Archdiocese.” Religious order priests are part of the consecrated life (having taken a vow of chastity, unlike diocesan priests, who make a promise of celibacy), and thus would be celibate even if celibacy became optional. So it is rather odd that they included their names on the petition.

I would also like to share a different breakdown of the 113 priests, and that is by the decade in which they were ordained. There were 5 from the 1940s, 20 from the 1950s, 30 from the 1960s, 37 from the 1970s, 12 from the 1980s, 5 from the 1990s, and 2 from the 2000s. (The ordination years of two other priests were unavailable.) My point is that the priests who are asking that celibacy be made optional are not the young ones; they are the priests who are retired or will retire within the next few years (a priest ordained in 1960, for example, would be at least 70 years old now). Many of them were around when this sort of talk bubbled up before, when Pope Paul VI responded to it with a 1967 encyclical letter on celibacy. We have lots of men in the seminary, and they know that they will live the life of a priest in the celibate state as a witness to the Kingdom of God – in fact, two years from now we could have as many as 22 new priests! The priests who signed the petition don't speak for us all. Most priests see celibacy as a gift, and intend to live it faithfully.

These are our brother priests, but many of us priests are very upset that they have done this, since it is likely to be very confusing for the faithful. Some of my friends have pointed out that many lay people assume that all priests would like to see the requirement of celibacy abolished. I want to assure my parishioners that it isn’t so. There is no reason for parishioners to feel sorry for “‘lonely’ priests who have had this burden foisted on them as a condition for ordination,” as a priest friend of mine recently wrote. He went on to write that the promise of celibacy made by diocesan priests (and the vow of chastity made by members of religious orders) “is done publicly, after much discernment and preparation, so the person understands why it is done, and [whether he has] been called to it. It is a calling, lived by Jesus himself, [which] is given to some: ‘Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom it is given’ (Matt. 19:11). The reason for it is given in the following verse: ‘Some…have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.’” Celibacy bears witness to the reality of the kingdom of heaven. Because of this, priestly celibacy is something positive, something taken up by some to be a sign that we all are waiting for something even greater than the good things of this earthly life, like marriage and family.

I would like to sketch the present situation regarding celibacy among Christian clergy. Christians are divided, as you undoubtedly know, into the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Churches, and the communities that have their origin in the Protestant Reformation. (The Catholic Church is made up of the Latin or Roman Rite [that’s us!] and 21 eastern rites.) The Catholic and Orthodox churches have the priesthood and the valid sacrament of the Eucharist, while the Protestant communities do not. As for celibacy, you probably know that most Catholic priests are celibate (although many Eastern Catholic priests and a tiny number of Latin Rite priests are married). Some Orthodox priests are celibate and many are married, but all Orthodox bishops are chosen from among the celibate priests. That is how things are now, but it was not always this way.

Celibacy was valued from the very early days of Christianity, although the number of clergy who were celibate was relatively small until the third century. In the fourth century they became the majority, and celibacy was promoted and encouraged for priests beginning with the Council of Elvira in the year 303. It became the norm for priests, upheld through previous ages that sometimes did not see its value. As recently as 1967 Pope Paul VI wrote an encyclical letter on priestly celibacy called Sacerdotalis Coelibatus, which beautifully describes the reasons for celibacy. It was written for a generation of priests and lay people that expected celibacy to come to an end – that period was a turbulent time in which much had already changed – and the pope wished to reaffirm the value of the discipline of celibacy.

Celibacy for priests is deeply connected to Christ. A priest is called to be alter Christus (another Christ). He participates in the priesthood of Jesus, who transformed the world through his death and resurrection. While Jesus raised marriage to the dignity of a sacrament, he also “opened a new way, in which the human creature adheres wholly and directly to the Lord,” as the pope wrote. This is meant to show the new reality of a world transformed. Jesus lived a celibate life, and priests are called “to share with him his very condition of living,” according to Paul VI. They do this for the sake of the kingdom of God. Priestly celibacy is a sign of heaven, then, and it is promised not out of obligation, but out of love. A man who is discerning a call to the priesthood in the Latin Rite also has to discern a call to live in the celibate state – and then promise in freedom to live in that state. When a man is ordained a deacon six months or a year before being ordained a priest, the bishop asks him, “Are you resolved, as a sign of your interior dedication to Christ, to remain celibate for the sake of the kingdom and in lifelong service to God and mankind?” The candidate answers, “I am!” The bishop adds, “May the Lord help you to persevere in this commitment.” And the Lord will help us; I am confident of it. Priests need their parishioners’ support as well, both in their prayers and in their ability to explain to anyone who asks that celibacy is a sign of the kingdom of heaven.

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NOTE: For your information CPO is printing the letter taken from the St. Paul Pioneer Press including the names of the priests who signed it. You will also find the Statement from the Archdiocese.

Posted on Fri, Dec. 12, 2003 - in the St. Paul Pioneer Press

Twin Cities priests join call to discuss celibacy

Of 460 active and retired priests in the Twin Cities archdiocese, 113 joined the call for an "open discussion" of optional celibacy:

The Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory, D.D.

President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

3211 Fourth Street, NE

Washington DC 20017-1194

8 December 2003

Dear Bishop Gregory:

We, the undersigned, are priests serving in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. We write to you as the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops because we wish to join our voices with the voices of priests of other dioceses in the United States, requesting that you use your position to achieve an open discussion of the issue of mandatory/optional celibacy for diocesan priests among the bishops of our nation.

It is our position that the current and prospective shortage of priests constitutes a grave threat to the Church in our country because, whereas our Catholic tradition and Vatican Council II teach that the liturgy is the summit and fount of the life of the Church, our Catholic faithful are more and more being denied their baptismal right to full access to the sacramental life of the Church, especially Sunday Eucharist.

We believe that the Holy Spirit does not fail to call to the priesthood sufficient numbers of the faithful from our parishes. However, mandatory celibacy is a major obstacle to devout and otherwise qualified men responding to this call. We believe changing the discipline of calling only celibate males to the priesthood of the Roman Rite to include married men as candidates would provide a priesthood of married as well as celibate men who would be available to provide for the leadership and cultic needs of our parishes.

Therefore, we are requesting our episcopal leaders to explore the issue of mandatory / optional celibacy for diocesan priests as soon as possible, and we are writing to enlist your support to that end.

Sincerely in the Spirit of Jesus

Stephen Adrian, Richard Moudry, Edward Flahavan, Timothy Power, Richard Wolter, Robert Fitzpatrick, John Hofstede, Michael Joncas, Robert Johnson, Timothy Wozniak, George Wertin, Patrick Malone, Jerome Keiser, Patrick Kennedy, William Kenney, Roger Pierre, Eugene Pouliot, Robert White, Roger Carroll, Thomas Conroy, Bryan O'Rourke, Martin Warren, Thomas Garvey, Wally Boehme, James Notebaart, Donald Piche, James Schoenberger, John Long, John Bauer, Kevin Clinton, Harvey Egan, Michael O'Connell, Jerry Vandrovec, Michael Arms, Michael Erlander, Dennis Dempsey, Paul Moudry, Gregory Welch, John Malone, Richard Rice, John Brandes, Thomas Kommers, Joseph Whalen, Patrick Griffin, Kenneth Pierre, Timothy Morin, Michael Tegeder, Fred Maples, Charles Burns, Michael Monogue, William Murtaugh, John Parkos, Stephen O'Gara, Gregory Esty, Stephen LaCanne, Matthew Linn, Gregory Skrypek, Paul Feela, Cletus Wessels, Richard Banker, David Smith, Eugene Abbott, John Siebenaler, Richard Mahoney, Steven Henrich, Phil Dreckman, Dale Korogi, B. J. McMullen, Harry Walsh, Lawrence R. Johnson, Jose M. Santiago, James Zappa Jr., Thomas Rayar, Tom Poulsen, William Martin, William Stolzman, Clement Zweber, Ronald J. Bowers, Tom Walker, James D. Gorman, John Raymond Lau, Robert Sipe, Robert Monaghan, Joseph Gillespie, James Radde, John Clay, Douglas Dandurand, Eugene Michel, Jerome Hackenmueller, Stephen Bonian, Lawrence Hubbard, Richard Wirth, James Habiger, Fredrick Mertz, Jerome Boxleitner, John Fizpatrick, Robert Hart, Kenneth LaVan, Stanley Maslowski, Martin Beckman, Robert Nygaard, Ambrose Mahon, H. Hansen, S. McMichael, D. Schwinghammer, John Forliti, Robert Valit, Dennis Thompson, James Smith, Leo Tibesar, Thomas Brioschi, David McCauley, George Kallumkalkudy.

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Posted on Thu, Dec. 11, 2003 in the St. Paul Pioneer Press

Statement of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

A number of priests working in this Archdiocese sent a letter today to Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. In their letter they expressed concern that the discipline of priestly celibacy was a barrier to recruiting a sufficient number of priests to serve our growing Catholic community. They asked that Bishop Gregory seek a discussion among the bishops of the United States about whether the practice of priestly celibacy ought to be made optional.

In sending their letter, the priests were acting within their rights as members of the Church and would not be subject to any sanction for doing so. Although celibacy has been recognized since the New Testament as a uniquely positive form of the Christian life, there has often been discussion about the pastoral fruitfulness of mandatory priestly celibacy for the Church.

Nonetheless, it is clear that the current discipline of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church includes a celibate priesthood. Archbishop Flynn enthusiastically supports that discipline, and disagrees that celibacy stands as a decisive barrier to the recruitment of candidates. His own experience is that there are many young men waiting for a personal invitation to undertake the challenging and life-giving vocation of the priesthood as it is currently lived in the Church.

It is especially important that priests give a joyful and prayerful witness to the richness of the vocation they now live, in imitation of Jesus Christ. Archbishop Flynn respects the good will and continued celibate commitment of the signers of today’s letter to Bishop Gregory. He also calls on the signers and all Catholic people to make a personal effort to encourage priesthood vocations.

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NOTE: What follows is the first letter signed by 58 priests inviting other priests to join them.

Dear fellow priest in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis,

We, the undersigned, invite you to join us in signing the enclosed letter on the subject of mandatory/optional celibacy for diocesan priests.

In the face of the worsening priest shortage in this country, priests in an increasing number of dioceses are calling on our Catholic bishops to open this question for discussion. This happened in Milwaukee in mid-August when 169 priests urged that the diocesan priesthood be open to married as well as to celibate men. It happened in Belleville, the home diocese of Bishop Wilton Gregory, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. It has now happened also in Pittsburgh, New York, Brooklyn and Rockville Centre. Just recently, Chicago and New Ulm made similar petitions.

On November 17th, 58 priests of this Archdiocese met in person or by telephone to discuss this growing problem. We recognized that access to the sacramental life of the Church is in growing jeopardy so long as this question remains closed, even to open discussion of the problem.

At this meeting we discussed a wide range of related topics, the church international, the priesthood of the laity, the ordination of women, sexual orientation and the priesthood, etc. In the end we returned to the focused question of our brother priests in the above-named dioceses, mandatory/optional celibacy. It is by no means the only answer to this pastoral problem, but it represents another positive initiative toward making the sacraments more accessible. It is also a matter that conceivably could be changed by the stroke of the pen of a willing pope.

We invite you to join us in this petition to our bishops by signing and returning the enclosed letter to Steve Adrian at 490 Hall Avenue; St. Paul, MN 55107 by December 8th. After the letter has been sent to Bishop Gregory, with a copy to Archbishop Flynn, the results, including the names of the signers, will be made public.

Let us pray together for a vigorous renewal of pastoral life in our church.