Posts Tagged ‘Celibacy’

Vatican admits it has rules for priests who father children

Thursday, February 21st, 2019

The Vatican’s rules for priests who father children will not be made public. Alessandro Gisotti, a Vatican spokesman, says a 2017 document synthesised a decade’s worth of procedures and that its “fundamental principle” was the “protection of the child”. The document is for internal use only. Gisotti explains the rules say a priest who fathered Read more

Female ordination advocates focus on power

Thursday, October 4th, 2018
Female ordination

On Holy Saturday, The New York Times published an article by Nicholas Kristof with the provocative title “God and Her (Female) Clergy”. The article focuses on the increasing numbers of women entering the clergy, particularly in Christian denominations, claiming a “right” they had previously been denied. More than that, the article claimed that a further Read more

Priests suspended after publishing a book on celibacy

Thursday, October 4th, 2018

Two Catholic priests from Slovakia have been suspended after publishing a book on celibacy. They say celibacy is “the wound of the Catholic Church that has been festering for eight centuries”. Read more

Celibacy and priestly ministry

Thursday, September 20th, 2018
celibacy

There has been a clamor among some priests to abolish mandatory celibacy and make it optional. For them, celibacy is a burden that is very difficult to live with. They contend that if it was made optional, more men will be attracted to the priesthood, especially at a time when there is a shortage of Read more

Single Catholics Church’s blind spot

Monday, November 13th, 2017

The Church should do more for single people, says French journalist Claire Lesegretain. “This is the Church’s blind spot. It’s there, very present, but nobody talks about it. We don’t see them,” she says. Lesegretain, who is single, believes the relationship between the Church and single people should be looked at from a vocational perspective. Read more

Catholic celibacy, secrecy and child abuse

Thursday, September 14th, 2017

Celibacy and secrecy are the major reasons child abuse is so prevalent in the Catholic Church, a new report says. The report, Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church: An Interpretive Review of the Literature and Public Inquiry Reports, was co-authored by Prof Des Cahill and theologian Dr Peter Wilkinson. Cahill, who helped the Australian Read more

Distorted view of celibacy leads to abuse

Monday, February 13th, 2017

With the release of a shocking report from Australia on accusations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, the old question is bound to arise: “Is the discipline of celibacy to blame for sexual abuse of minors?” The complicated question is dealt with in historian Philip Jenkins’s excellent study on the problem. Published in Read more

The true history of celibacy

Friday, September 9th, 2016

According to some reports, the next synod may touch on the question of ordaining married men. If we are to have such a debate, it should be based on fact, not fantasy. You will sometimes hear people say that priests could be married up to the 12th century. Others say that celibacy was imposed on Read more

The secret is celibacy and lots of yoga says 120-year-old monk

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2016

A remarkably unlined 120-year-old monk says he is the oldest man to have ever lived puts his longevity down to no sex or spices, and daily yoga. The Hindu monk Swami Sivananda was born on August 8, 1896, according to his passport. If true, his life would have spanned three centuries. But despite his apparent Read more

Abusive priests: is celibacy really to blame?

Friday, August 5th, 2016

When a Muslim kills in the name of Islam, only the most bigoted among us would condemn all Muslims. When a mother kills her child, only the most misogynist among us would condemn all women. When a black man rapes a white woman, only the most racist among us would blame all black men. When Read more