Married priests

Why must a priest be celibate?

Because the Latin Church has made it the law for its priests, not because the priesthood requires it. The Second Vatican Council says celibacy “is not demanded by the very nature of the priesthood, as is apparent from the practice of the early Church and from the traditions of the Eastern Churches”, where “there are also married priests of highest merit”. Celibacy “first was recommended to priests, later in the Latin Church was imposed upon all who were to be promoted to sacred orders”, and the Council confirmed that law. Presbyterorum Ordinis 16

So it depends on which Church a man is ordained in. In the Latin Church ordained ministers, “with the exception of permanent deacons”, are normally chosen from men who live and intend to remain celibate. CCC 1579 In the Eastern Churches bishops are chosen only from celibates, but married men can be ordained deacons and priests. In East and West alike, a man already ordained can no longer marry. CCC 1580

The reason given is what celibacy signifies. The priest consecrates himself “with undivided heart to the Lord and to ‘the affairs of the Lord’”; CCC 1579 the Council calls celibacy “a sign and a stimulus for pastoral charity” and “a living sign of the world to come”; Presbyterorum Ordinis 16 Paul VI adds that Christ himself lived celibate. Sacerdotalis Caelibatus 21 None of this lowers marriage: “Whoever denigrates marriage also diminishes the glory of virginity.” CCC 1620

To the argument that married priests would ease the shortage, Paul VI answered that he was “not easily led to believe that the abolition of ecclesiastical celibacy would considerably increase the number of priestly vocations”, and placed the causes of the decline elsewhere, in a lost sense of God. Sacerdotalis Caelibatus 49 He did allow study of admitting to priestly functions married ministers of other Christian communities who come into full communion. Sacerdotalis Caelibatus 42 And the Latin Church ordains married men as permanent deacons, with the wife’s consent. Sacrum Diaconatus 11

A priest who wants to marry must ask the Apostolic See for a dispensation, and that dispensation is not “a right which the Church must recognize indiscriminately as belonging to all its priests”. Letter on the Dispensation of Priests from Celibacy 3; Letter on the Dispensation of Priests from Celibacy 4

1579

All the ordained ministers of the Latin Church, with the exception of permanent deacons, are normally chosen from among men of faith who live a celibate life and who intend to remain celibate "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven." Mt 19:12. Called to consecrate themselves with undivided heart to the Lord and to "the affairs of the Lord," 1 Cor 7:32. they give themselves entirely to God and to men. Celibacy is a sign of this new life to the service of which the Church's minister is consecrated; accepted with a joyous heart celibacy radiantly proclaims the Reign of God. Cf. PO 16.

1580

In the Eastern Churches a different discipline has been in force for many centuries: while bishops are chosen solely from among celibates, married men can be ordained as deacons and priests. This practice has long been considered legitimate; these priests exercise a fruitful ministry within their communities. Cf. PO 16. Moreover, priestly celibacy is held in great honor in the Eastern Churches and many priests have freely chosen it for the sake of the Kingdom of God. In the East as in the West a man who has already received the sacrament of Holy Orders can no longer marry.

1618

Christ is the center of all Christian life. the bond with him takes precedence over all other bonds, familial or social. Cf. Lk 14:26; Mk 10:28-31. From the very beginning of the Church there have been men and women who have renounced the great good of marriage to follow the Lamb wherever he goes, to be intent on the things of the Lord, to seek to please him, and to go out to meet the Bridegroom who is coming. Cf. Rev 14:4; 1 Cor 7:32; Mt 25:6. Christ himself has invited certain persons to follow him in this way of life, of which he remains the model:

"For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it." Mt 19:12.

1619

Virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven is an unfolding of baptismal grace, a powerful sign of the supremacy of the bond with Christ and of the ardent expectation of his return, a sign which also recalls that marriage is a reality of this present age which is passing away. Cf. Mk 12:25; 1 Cor 7:31.

1620

Both the sacrament of Matrimony and virginity for the Kingdom of God come from the Lord himself. It is he who gives them meaning and grants them the grace which is indispensable for living them out in conformity with his will. Cf. Mt 19:3-12. Esteem of virginity for the sake of the kingdom Cf. LG 42; PC 12; OT 10. and the Christian understanding of marriage are inseparable, and they reinforce each other:

Whoever denigrates marriage also diminishes the glory of virginity. Whoever praises it makes virginity more admirable and resplendent. What appears good only in comparison with evil would not be truly good. the most excellent good is something even better than what is admitted to be good. St. John Chrysostom, De virg. 10, 1 PG — Patrologia Graeca (Migne); Cf. John Paul II, FC 16.

Letter on the Dispensation of Priests from Celibacy Oct 14, 1980
Sacerdotalis Caelibatus Jun 24, 1967
Sacrum Diaconatus Jun 18, 1967
Presbyterorum Ordinis Dec 7, 1965
Sacra Virginitas Mar 25, 1954

From the Catechism

From the Magisterium