Real Priests Must Marry

kw: opinion, priesthood, pedophilia scandal

The "pedophile priests" scandal continues to generate news. To those who know history, it is only the latest in sixteen centuries of sexual misconduct by priests. Throughout the medieval period, if any priestly conclave was planned in a town, the townspeople sent away their daughters and younger sons to stay with relatives for the duration. This shame of Catholic dogma has been an open secret through its entire history.

I won't rehearse the history of the celibacy requirement. Rather, I simply show that it is wrong. Those who God has called to celibacy are very, very few. If a man or woman does not have a gift of singleness, marriage is required to reduce the temptation to sin. But we need to see what the Apostle Paul wrote. Recall that a Catholic priest is considered an elder, and if elevated, a bishop 0r overseer (We'll set aside for today the fact that in the Bible, every elder is a bishop, and every bishop is an elder: one is the person the other is the function).

Paul wrote twice about the qualifications of an elder or overseer:

I Timothy 3:1-7
1 Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task.
2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.
5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?)
6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.
7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.

Titus 1:5-7
5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.
6 An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.
7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.

From these two passages it is clear that an elder or overseer must be a married man with children, and he must demonstrate through his success in raising his children that he is fit to manage the church.

Over against these two passages, can be laid thousands of pages of the writings of the "church fathers," regarding celibacy. However, none of them is inspired by God; Paul's writing is. To a Bible believer, not a single word of "tradition" is authoritative. And the Bible is clear. Whether those who lead the church are called priests, elders, bishops, overseers, parsons, pastors...regardless, they are required to be married men who have successfully raised children.