Scandal Puts New Focus on Celibacy

Celibacy, a cornerstone of the Roman Catholic priesthood for a thousand years and a symbol of ordained holiness, is being questioned with a new urgency as the church’s sexual abuse scandal sweeps across the nation.

In a sharp departure from Pope John Paul II’s insistence that the celibacy issue is closed, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony on Monday became the first American cardinal to declare that discussion of a married priesthood remains open.

Mahony’s willingness to debate celibacy is further evidence that the widening sexual abuse scandal is forcing church leaders to examine the nature of the Catholic priesthood, church experts said.

The Los Angeles archbishop’s candid remarks Monday night are certain to reach the Vatican, where John Paul has been unbending in his opposition to married priests.

Mahony’s remarks after a Mass in Long Beach appear to contradict the Holy See. “I’ve never said that we can’t discuss these things,” Mahony said, adding that Eastern rite Catholic priests can marry. “It works out fine.”

Mahony’s comments marked the third time this week that celibacy has been raised in a major American archdiocese.

Two weeks ago, the official newspaper of the Boston archdiocese, headed by Cardinal Bernard Law, called celibacy an issue that “simply will not disappear.” The newspaper said the issue had gained new currency among the nation’s 62 million Catholics, most of whom disagree with their church’s position.

In Milwaukee, Archbishop Rembert Weakland--one of the most liberal of U.S. bishops--wrote in a March 19 letter, “Perhaps this will be the moment when the larger issue of priestly ministry in the church will be faced.” Weakland said he was more open to married clergy after visiting Eastern Orthodox churches around the world.

Weakland said another door was opened when the pope allowed married Episcopal priests to convert to Catholic priests. Such discussions, he wrote, “could be the kind of breakthrough that will force us to move ahead in unexpected ways.”

The statements from Boston and Los Angeles are given great weight because the two cardinals are considered among the most powerful Catholic leaders in the United States. Mahony is seen as one of the American church’s more liberal cardinals, while Law is considered one of the nation’s most conservative.

Mahony has been unquestionably loyal to Catholic doctrine. His remarks, delivered after a sermon to 300 of his priests, show clearly “that this is a live issue that can’t be swept under the carpet,” said Father Tom Reese, editor of the Jesuit magazine America.

“He’s not the pastor of a Podunk parish,” Reese said. “He’s one of the most visible Catholic bishops in the U.S. For him to bring this up is certainly important.”

Reese added that Mahony’s remarks would probably add to the momentum of the informal discussions that have been held for years.

“It’s a significant statement and for many a sign of hope because many perceive the American Catholic bishops as a very cautious, conservative group, looking constantly over their shoulder at the Vatican,” Father Richard P. McBrien, professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, said Tuesday. No one in the church, either in the United States or elsewhere, believes there is any serious likelihood that a married priesthood will come during the reign of John Paul. Indeed, neither Mahony nor the Boston Catholic newspaper suggested they necessarily favored making celibacy an option.

A week after the Boston newspaper’s March 15 editorial it published a second story that sought to calm the controversy. The paper said it only reported what rank-and-file Catholics are saying about celibacy. Cardinal Law, the newspaper’s publisher, distanced himself from the editorial, saying: “It is one thing to report the questions of others; it is quite another thing to make those questions one’s own.”

Mahony said Monday that he was glad the paper raised the issue, noting that the Catholic Church had for 1,100 years allowed its priests to marry. “The Eastern Catholic churches have always had a married priesthood, and it works out fine,” he said. “So I think it should be discussed.”

When asked whether he had a personal view, Mahony said, “No, I just think it should be very much discussed.” He added, “When I do, I’ll let you know.”

Mahony said his only regret about the Boston editorial was that it may have left the misimpression that celibacy is linked to sexual abuse. Psychologists and other experts on sexual development say there is no correlation.

“Most pedophiles are married,” said Father Curtis Bryant, a Los Angeles psychologist and former director of inpatient clinical services at St. Luke Institute in Washington. The institute treats priests involved in sexual abuse.

He said older men entering the seminary have more life experience and are more likely to have completed their psychosexual development. That makes for a healthy priest, Bryant said.

Celibacy has been a contentious issue in the American church and throughout the church’s 2,000-year history. It was observed in varying degrees over the ages. In the church’s early history, the Apostle Paul urged followers not to marry because Christians in those days believed Jesus’ Second Coming was imminent. Later, celibacy became an issue because of disputes over property rights: Who would inherit the estate of a dead priest? His wife or the church? The issue was settled by the first and second Lateran Councils in 1123 and 1139, which declared that priestly orders were an impediment to marriage and marriage an impediment to priestly orders.

But rules on celibacy in the priesthood can be changed. The ban on sex is considered a church discipline, rather than immutable dogma.

John Paul’s age and failing health are prompting some in the church to say the next pope could have a different view on celibacy. Church leaders say most of the bishops appointed by John Paul will turn 75 over the next 10 years, paving the way for possible change in coming generations.

A more immediate concern is the diminishing number of priests. In 1980 there were 58,621 priests in the United States. Ten years later, that number had fallen to 53,111. Last year, there were 46,075. Advocates of optional celibacy argue a change would draw more men into the priesthood. A Newsweek poll this week found that 79% of all Americans and 69% of Catholics favored allowing married men to be ordained as priests.

Opening the discussion of marriage among priests has been an unexpected consequence of the sex abuse scandal in the church.

“One bright spot in this whole horrible business of the sex abuse scandals is that it does seem to be creating an atmosphere for transformation,” said Linda Pieczynski of Call to Action, a Chicago-based unofficial Catholic reform group. “The openness with which Cardinal Mahony is approaching this issue shows that the bishops are starting to realize what the people in the pews have been saying for years.”

Conservatives were caught off guard by Mahony’s statement.

George Weigel, author of an extensive biography of the pope, said Tuesday that he found Mahony’s remarks “a little puzzling.” He said he expected the celibacy rule to remain intact.

But, Weigel said, there should be a discussion of a reformed priesthood without unraveling the discipline of celibacy.

“Living a chaste, celibate life has to be talked about much more openly, much more assertively in seminaries,” Weigel said. “Celibacy is not the problem. The problem is men not living the celibate commitment they have made.”

In St. Louis, Helen Hull Hitchcock, director of Women for Faith and Family and an editor of a conservative liturgical journal, said she was not surprised by the new calls for optional celibacy. She said that for those who favor married priests--which she doesn’t--now is the time to press the issue.