Okay; having thrown the book
at Dan Brown – so to speak – let's get back to someone just as troubling, if
not more… though fortunately nowhere nearly as influential. Here's what we've
addressed so far, going through John Wojnowski's vicious, hateful, piece-of-garbage
anti-Catholic handout. (Again, a warm thank-you to niece Casper for
nervously passing this along to me.)
(And a most special hello and happy eighteenth birthday – er,
yesterday – to my lovely golden rod of thespian talent, daughter-two Portia! Bonus:
graduation for her in two weeks… wow!)
You know, I've been itching
to pass this series of analyses and counterpoint directly back to Wojnowski, and
I think I'll go ahead and do just that, once I'm done – and have balanced
out the strength and sternness of my response with a fair-handed, open-minded
look at his credible claim of molestation.
We were last addressing what
John had to offer as opinion (masquerading as vicious calumny) on the long
history of priestly celibacy. Here again is what he had written:
It may not be immediately obvious
but ignorance and cowardice also keep the arrogant and childishly delusional
Roman Catholic Church from discarding the strange medieval folly of the bizarre
notion of priestly "celibacy".
Healthy individuals with
integrity cannot stomach the stench of hypocrisy and leave the priestood.
In a culture of shame a robust
moral eunuchood is the ticket for a career in the Catholic hierarchy.
I responded Sunday by laying
out the current Church teachings/doctrine on priestly celibacy, and showing its
origin in words Jesus himself gave to his disciples.
(We have to assume, though,
that John is unfamiliar with the Catechism, and that his own Bible lacks
the passages I quoted. Do him a big favor and check your own Bibles, and see
whether yours includes 1 Corinthians 7:32-35, Matthew
9:3-12, and Luke 16:13. Please note that the hyperlinks I
provided to online Biblical text are to the New American Bible translation;
your own text may vary. If you're Catholic, you'll probably need to call on one
of your Protestant friends to show you just where these three books are in the
Bible… and don't embarrass yourself further: blow the dust off first, and
underline a few random passages. You'll be glad you did.)
I mentioned Sunday, but couldn't
fit in, a decree issued by His Holiness Paul VI in 1965 as one of the many
fruits of the Vatican II Council (or synod). This is his "Presbyterorum Ordinis" – or, if I remember
my Latin correctly, "On the Ordination of Priests". In Section 16 of Chapter III, under the subsection-title
"Celibacy Is
to Be Embraced and Esteemed As a Gift", he addresses celibacy. Let me quote it for you. I've
tweaked the punctuation just a bit to improve the read, but I'll admit it's
somewhat tough going (hence the added hyperlinks as well) – but this just isn't
a simple topic, either:
"Perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven
– commended
by Christ the Lord – and through the course of time (as well as in
our own days) freely accepted and observed in a praiseworthy manner by many of
the faithful, is held by the Church to be of great value in a special manner
for the priestly life. It is at the same time a sign and a stimulus for
pastoral charity, and a special source of spiritual fecundity in the world. Indeed, it 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[-rite] Churches, where (besides those who – with all the bishops, by a
gift of grace – choose to observe celibacy), there are also married priests of
highest merit. This holy synod [i.e.,
Vatican II],
while it commends ecclesiastical celibacy, in no way intends to alter that
different discipline which legitimately flourishes in the Eastern Churches. It
permanently exhorts all those who have received the priesthood and marriage, to
persevere in their holy vocation so that they may fully and generously continue
to expend themselves for the sake of the flock commended to them.
"Indeed, celibacy has a
many-faceted suitability for the priesthood. For the whole priestly mission is
dedicated to the service of a new humanity, which Christ (the victor over
death) has aroused through his Spirit in the world, and which has its origin 'not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God'. Through virginity, then (or celibacy observed
for the Kingdom of Heaven), priests are consecrated to Christ by a new and
exceptional reason. They adhere to him more easily with an undivided
heart; they dedicate themselves more freely in him (and through him)
to the service of God, and [of
all women and all] men; and they more expeditiously minister to his Kingdom, and [to] the work of heavenly
regeneration. Thus they are apt to accept (in a broad sense) paternity in
Christ. In this way, they profess themselves (before men [and women]) as willing to be dedicated to
the office committed to them – namely, to commit themselves faithfully to one
man, and to show themselves as a chaste virgin for Christ. And, thus, to evoke
the mysterious marriage established by Christ, and to be fully manifested in
the future, in which the Church has Christ as her only Spouse. They give,
moreover, a living sign of the world to come, by a faith and charity already
made present, in which the children of the resurrection neither
marry nor take wives.
"For these reasons (based on the
mystery of Christ and his mission), celibacy – which first was recommended to
priests, later in the Latin Church – was imposed upon all who were to be
promoted to sacred orders. This holy synod again approves and confirms this [particular] legislation (pertaining to
those who are destined for the priesthood), fully trusting [in] this gift of the Spirit (so
fitting for the priesthood of the New Testament), [and] freely given by the Father – provided that those who participate
in the priesthood of Christ through the sacrament of Orders (and also the whole
Church) humbly and fervently pray for it. This sacred synod also exhorts all
priests who (in following the example of Christ) freely receive sacred celibacy
as a grace of God, that they magnanimously and wholeheartedly adhere to it.
And, that persevering faithfully in it, they may acknowledge this outstanding
gift of the Father, which is so openly praised and extolled by the Lord. Let
them keep before their eyes the great mysteries signified by it, and fulfilled
in it. Insofar as perfect continence is thought by many men [and women] to be impossible in our times,
to that extent priests should all the more humbly and steadfastly pray with the
Church for that grace of fidelity (which is never denied [to] those who seek it), and use
all the supernatural and natural aids available. They should especially seek
(lest they omit them) the ascetical norms which have been proved by the
experience of the Church, and which are scarcely less necessary in the
contemporary world. This holy synod asks not only priests, but all the faithful,
that they might receive this precious gift of priestly celibacy in their
hearts, and ask of God that he will always bestow this gift upon his Church."
Here's what this piece of the
decree says, as I read it, on celibacy:
- It enriches the spirit of the celibate priest and professed religious (i.e., monk/nun);
- The Church does not demand it – and in fact does allow for married priests under some circumstances (as I mentioned on the way out the door here Sunday);
- Instead of consecrating him/herself to an earthly spouse, the priest/professed instead is consecrated spiritually to the people, the Church, and Heaven itself;
- Through celibacy they also evince and prefigure the Heavenly reality, in which there is no marriage anyway; and
- Please pray for your priests, and the brothers and sisters in religious orders – it ain't that easy!
So. What else does Mr.
Wojnowski have so graciously to say about celibacy?
…a robust moral eunuchood is the
ticket for a career in the Catholic hierarchy.
(Let's skip the obvious, that
"eunuchood" is not a word; that would be petty.) You know, from my
perspective this statement, though rudely slanted, is somewhat correct.
However, I doubt most men entering the priesthood have a genuine career-path of
an upward rise through the hierarchy! "Gee willikers – in two years I can
move up from assistant parish priest to Pastor! Four years, and I'll be
Monsignor. Then another five, and I'll be Bishop, then Archbishop, Cardinal…
and finally the triple tiara – yeah, baby!"
We enter the religious
orders, the priesthood, to serve, to give back, to guide, to teach. No doubt,
of course, there are plenty of power-hungry self-serving men all up and down
the hierarchy – they're merely men, not saints. But the flaw is in those men's
hearts, not in the Church they selfishly mis-serve… and they're a minority,
though at times can be a nuisance to the rest.
(I once heard an awesome
priest use blunt, FCC-banned wording in response to a needless bit of
micromanagerial silliness that came down from apparent paperpushers in the
Vatican. This doesn't mean the whole Church is a sham, John – it just
underscores the flawed nature of some men who serve it (even without molesting
the altarboys), and most especially the need for the rest of us to continue our
prayer and support for the great, more-silent majority of hardworking priests
and professed religious.)
Keep going, John.
…the half-baked scheme of
clerical celibacy, is called a "GIFT" and the Church’s
"brilliant jewel"!
Gift? Absolutely! Let's look
at the next-nearest thing to celibacy for just a second: a healthy marriage.
"Next-nearest thing to celibacy"? Whaa?? Sure; think about it: you're
married in love, devotion, and consecration to your spouse, and are
totally celibate to all the rest of humanity beyond that spouse. At least,
you'd better be, or you may as well not be married at all… and quit ripping out
your spouse's heart while you're at it.
Essentially it's the same
thing.
Next?
Well, toward the beginning he
refers to celibacy as an insult to Mother Nature – or as he writes in his third
paragraph:
Mother Nature is not insulted
with impunity.
In other words, celibacy is
"unnatural", right? Well, sure; of course the natural human impulse
is to reproduce. It takes a conscious exercise of the will – something
genuinely separating us from the animal and vegetable kingdoms, though just
barely – to ignore, disregard, countermand that natural impulse.
John Wojnowski implies, then,
that we should stick with natural impulses. Okay, here are three things that
aren't natural: computers, cars, and cash. You gonna give 'em all up, John?
They're not natural, you know. Nor was that legal-size sheet you (or one of
your people) handed my niece, nor the photocopier it was reproduced on.
You want natural pursuit
of reproductive impulses, John? How about the
way the black-widow spider sometimes does it, the scorpion, or the
mantis? One-hundred percent "natural", Mr. Wojnowski; you go right
ahead – don't be a hypocrite, okay? Me, I'll pass.
Followup: two comments came
in over the next couple weeks:
eric Jun 27, 2008
You’re a spiteful and, indeed,
petty apologist with absolutely no defense for the catholic mafia’s legacy of
brutality.
Phosphoro Jul 11, 2008
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