Should the Catholic Church Allow Priests to Marry?

From the perspective of an outside observer lets begin with what is the reasoning behind wanting a Priest to be celibate? Just because of sex or in spite of sex?

I think in terms of the uniting of the body with god, which if done, results in a celibate lifestyle be you female or male, Priest or not. Ancient teachings and the teachers, whatever they were called, prophets, priests, you name it, were celibate as a result of the absolute union with the one. Spiritually with this union nothing else was a temptation, if in fact you were absolute.

So many instances of corruption in Ashrams and other supposedly spiritual retreats are the result of the inability of man, most men to adhere to a celibate lifestyle, which is of course difficult, and easier said than done. Problem is that when a man is totally open and sensitive to the needs of others he is totally vulnerable to the desires of others, especially females, being that females are totally open to love and is what they want in their lives or life, and when they meet a man who meets that want, spiritual teaching is going by the wayside without strict discipline on the part of the teacher, or Priest, perhaps both, though that is not meant at all to imply the consent of a woman in those circumstances, because the fact of the matter is the woman is so vulnerable at the time, the man may think incorrectly that she is consenting, only though if he is not truly a Spiritual teacher or Priest, etc. Some women have come out of those situations wondering how and what happened, without knowing the why, and in truth there ought not be a why in the situation.

I personally think of it this way, in a Spiritual setting if we truly know what absolute love is and do not share it with all of life then we actually do not know what we think we know of love. In other words love, absolute love has nothing to do with sex, it is only love and sees no bounds or hoops to jump through, and to share that kind of love celibacy is a prerequisite, it actually would not and is not a question, it just is. Which is why again so many get in trouble with the sex, no discipline or will, they give in to the desire to want to make someone feel better physically, which usually in the case of a woman is the reason she is seeking some kind of spiritual comfort from a man, and a Priest or Spiritual teacher is meant to be a haven of tender loving care without the obscurity of some of the idiocy of sex, which takes advantage of the emotional state of the woman.

It is a fact of nature and life, how ever you want to look at it that the practice of Yoga if you get into it all the way the body will calm the mind which is the purpose of the practice, though technically the practice is to allow the body, mind and spirit to unite with the one, call it god, or the nameless, or the universal supreme being. With this union comes great emotional healing and release, which is another reason why the male, usually it was a male teacher or spiritual leader, was celibate, in order to administer to whatever students he had, male or female. I mention Yoga because I believe it is where the practice of modern day religion comes from, though in reality modern day religion is a sham compared to the true Spiritual practice which Yoga. Some people believe Jesus received teachings from Yoga in India. Modern day religion, our let us say in the past two thousand years has been like a practice to make the whole business of Spiritual teachings easier, which the West or European thinking is so good at. In other words it is a moment by moment practice, not just the one or two or three or how ever many times a week someone attends church.

Think of the virgin birth of Jesus, no matter what you believe of the Bible, supposedly the virgin birth was so Mary could be without sin, at least in the religious teaching of Catholicism, well what is sin? When I read of some of the teachings and practices and think of the immaculate conception all I can really think and do believe is the fact that if Mary had that much love in her Spirit then the spirits looking for or choosing the womb carefully just jumped at the chance to be in a place of that much absolute love, so I believe in the concept of an immaculate conception. Though in reality most spirits need to find a man and woman in the union of love and making love to begin the journey back to the physical body again. The Tibetan Book of the Dead is a great resource if you are interested.

That is the whole concept of celibacy in the Priesthood, and why marriage ought not be an option. The other side of it is where the insanity of some of the other problems occurred in the way of Priests being celibate though thinking it is OK to use boys as a release of their undisciplined Spiritual lives with no sexual connection with woman. Man is most likely always the one to be the idiot, which is why the woman is the one with the true power, and why man has tried through the ages to quell her power, with no luck, fortunately for the human race.

About the Author

George Merritt is a Certified General Contractor, Welder, Writer, Machinist always learning something new, and never gives up hope on the love of life and the human condition in the quest for truth, love, peace, and joy among other things. http://www.georgetmerritt.com