Words Like Locusts Flew From Her Fingers

The Roman Catholic Priesthood

[Note: If you click here, a new window will open with some music I recorded yesterday and you'll have something to listen to while you're reading my maunderings. If you're a frequent visitor to the "Music: Flute and Oboe" part of my realm, you will have probably already heard it. But...in case you're not, here it is. (Oh...if you've got a slow internet connect, be aware that it's a pretty big download.)]

Okay. I guess the news that the Pope might be going back into the hospital is what’s prompted me to write this little entry.

As many of you already know, I’m generally a bit on the liberal side in my social and political opinions. (I was reminded of how uncommon that is in some quarters when last night I made a snide joke about Alberto Gonzales (“It’s torture. But it works!”) and no one laughed. Oops.) So, this may come as a surprise: I’m completely supportive of the Roman Catholic Church keeping the priesthood exclusively unmarried and male.

Here’s why:

Unmarried because, if you’re doing marriage right, you really don’t have the time or energy to also do the priesthood right. Priesthood is supposed to be about total committment to serving God and the Catholic Church. There’s nothing wrong with celibacy in the priesthood for the same reason. A close personal relationship with one person is going to distract. It’s just the way it works. People who think priestly celibacy leads to child abuse are, not to put too fine a point on it, morons. If there is a higher percentage of abusers in the priesthood (a big if) it’s because people who are uncomfortable with their sexual desires are more inclined to enter religious life, thinking it will help them overcome these desires. When the desire springs from some kind of mental illness though, like pedophilia, being a priest is unlikely to make it go away and no amount of genuine committment to God may help.

Okay?

As for an all male priesthood. I just don’t see what the big deal is. It’s the tradition in the Roman Catholic Church. It’s how they do it. So what? If you want a religion that’s pretty much like Catholicism but with women as priests become a Lutheran or an Episcopalian. Insisting that the Roman Catholic church ordain women is like…like joining the chess club and then insisting that everyone should play parcheesi.

A person might say, ‘Well, I don’t want to become a Lutheran or an Episcopalian because those religions don’t have the same lock on God’s Truth that the Catholics have.’ Okay, if you believe that the Roman Catholic Church is the “one true church” then quit trying to mess with it! If they’re the “one true church”, the leadership must know what they’re doing, right?

Jeez. Why is this even an issue?

It just occurred to me that there’s another reason for why I’m suddenly inspired to write about this. A couple of days ago I spent several hours perusing web sites related to Traditional Catholicism. I was trying to find out if there’s a church in the area that does the Tridentine (Latin) Mass. There is, actually, though they only do it on Wednesday nights. There’s another church in Chinatown in DC that does it on Sundays, though, so I may need to drag Mark out there some time for a little “field trip”. (Hey, he’s the one who wants to become a Jesuit if I die before him. He should start getting in the groove early, right?)

Anyway, here are a couple sites that might interest you:

Apologia. This one’s REALLY interesting! Be sure to look at their “How-Tos of Catholicism”.

See also the discussion board associated with the Apologia site. The discussions about women’s attire are particularly enlightening.

These folks are really into traditional Catholicism. (They think Pope John Paul II is too liberal!) While they’re a bit too “out there” for me, there are some things I can agree with them on. Like them, I prefer a Mass that’s formulaic. I like Latin. I really can’t stand all that hand-clapping, folk-song-singing stuff. Blecccch! I like my religion toned-down and very formal.

Anyway. Do check out their message board if nothing else. It’s fascinating.