1. In the Gospels, when Jesus called his first Apostles to make them “fishers of men” (Mt 4:19; Mk 1:17; cf. Lk 5:10), they “left everything and followed him” (Lk 5:11; cf. Mt 4:20, 22; Mk 1:18, 20). One day, Peter himself recalled this aspect of the apostolic vocation, saying to Jesus: “Behold, we have left everything and followed you” (Mt 19:27; Mk 10:28; cf. Lk 18:28). Jesus then listed all the renunciations necessary “for my sake,” he said, “and for the sake of the Gospel” (Mk 10:29). It was not merely a matter of renouncing material possessions, such as one’s “house” or “fields”, but also of parting from one’s dearest ones: “brothers or sisters or father or mother or children”, – as Matthew and Mark put it – “wife or brothers or parents or children”, – as Luke puts it (18:29).
Let us note here the diversity of vocations. Jesus did not demand a radical renunciation of family life from all his disciples, although he did demand that he take first place in their hearts when he said: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Mt 10:37). The requirement for effective renunciation is proper to the apostolic life or to the life of special consecration. Called by Jesus, “James son of Zebedee and his brother John” left not only the boat in which they were “mending their nets”, but also their father, with whom they were (Mt 4:22; cf. Mk 1:20).
These observations help us to understand the rationale behind the Church’s legislation regarding priestly celibacy. The Church, in fact, has held and continues to hold that it is part of the logic of priestly consecration and the consequent total belonging to Christ, with a view to the conscious fulfilment of his mandate of spiritual life and evangelisation.
2. Indeed, in the Gospel according to Matthew, shortly before the passage on separation from loved ones that we have just cited, Jesus expresses in strong Semitic language another renunciation required ‘for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven’, namely, the renunciation of marriage. “There are,” he says, “eunuchs who have made themselves such for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 19:12). That is to say, they have committed themselves to celibacy in order to place themselves entirely at the service of the “Gospel of the Kingdom” (cf. Mt 4:23; 9:35; 24:34).
In his First Letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul states that he has resolutely taken this path and demonstrates the consistency of his decision by declaring: “The unmarried man is concerned with the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. The married man, however, is concerned with the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and is divided!” (1 Cor 7:32–34). Certainly, it is not fitting that one who has been called to attend to the things of the Lord as a priest should “be divided”. As the Council states, the commitment to celibacy, deriving from a tradition linked to Christ, is “particularly suited to the priestly life. It is in fact both a sign and a stimulus of pastoral charity, and a source of spiritual fruitfulness in the world” (Presbyterorum Ordinis, 16).
It is true that in the Eastern Churches many priests are lawfully married according to the canon law applicable to them. Even in those Churches, however, the bishops live in celibacy, as do a certain number of priests. The difference in discipline, linked to conditions of time and place assessed by the Church, is explained by the fact that perfect continence, as the Council states, “is not required by the very nature of the priesthood” (ibid.). It does not belong to the essence of the priesthood as an Order, and therefore is not imposed absolutely in all Churches. There is, however, no doubt as to its appropriateness and indeed its consistency with the demands of the sacred Order. It falls, as has been said, within the logic of consecration.
3. The concrete ideal of this state of consecrated life is Jesus, the model for all, but especially for priests. He lived as a celibate, and for this reason was able to devote all his energies to preaching the Kingdom of God and to the service of mankind, with a heart open to the whole of humanity, as the progenitor of a new spiritual generation. His choice was truly ‘for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven’ (cf. Mt 19:12).
By his example, Jesus pointed the way, and this path has been followed. According to the Gospels, it seems that the Twelve, destined to be the first to share in his priesthood, renounced family life in order to follow him. The Gospels never speak of wives or children in connection with the Twelve, even though they do tell us that Peter, before being called by Jesus, was a married man (cf. Mt 8:14; Mk 1:30; Lk 4:38).
4. Jesus did not enact a law, but proposed an ideal of celibacy for the new priesthood he was establishing. This ideal became increasingly established within the Church. It is understandable that, in the early phase of the spread and development of Christianity, a large number of priests were married men, chosen and ordained in the wake of Jewish tradition. We know that in the Letters to Timothy (1 Tim 3:2–33) and to Titus (Titus 1:6) it is required that, among the qualities of men chosen as presbyters, there be that of being good heads of households, married to one wife (that is, faithful to their wives). This was a phase in the Church’s development, and one might say, of experimentation to determine which form of discipline regarding states of life best corresponded to the ideal and the ‘counsels’ proposed by the Lord. On the basis of experience and reflection, the discipline of celibacy gradually became established until it became the norm in the Western Church by virtue of canon law. It was not merely the consequence of a legal and disciplinary fact: it was the maturing of an ecclesial awareness regarding the appropriateness of priestly celibacy for reasons not only historical and practical, but also stemming from the ever-better-discovered congruence between celibacy and the demands of the priesthood.
5. The Second Vatican Council sets out the reasons for this ‘intimate harmony’ between celibacy and the priesthood: ‘Through virginity or celibacy observed for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, priests consecrate themselves to Christ in a new and sublime way; they adhere more easily to Him with undivided love; they devote themselves more freely in Him and for Him to the service of God and mankind; they serve His Kingdom and His work of divine regeneration more effectively; and in this way they prepare themselves better to receive a fuller fatherhood in Christ”. They “thus evoke that mystical marriage instituted by God, which will be fully revealed in the future, whereby the Church has Christ as her sole Spouse... and become a living sign of that future world, already present through faith and charity, in which the children of the resurrection do not enter into marriage” (PO 16; cf. Pastores dabo vobis, 29; 50; CCC 1579).
These are reasons of noble spiritual elevation, which we may summarise in the following essential elements: the fullest adherence to Christ, loved and served with an undivided heart (cf. 1 Cor 7:32–33); the widest possible availability for the service of Christ’s Kingdom and for the fulfilment of one’s duties in the Church; the more exclusive choice of spiritual fruitfulness (cf. 1 Cor 4:15); the practice of a life akin to that which is definitive in the hereafter, and therefore more exemplary for life in this world. This applies to all ages, including our own, as the supreme reason and criterion for every judgement and every choice in harmony with the invitation to ‘leave everything behind’, addressed by Jesus to his disciples and especially to the Apostles. For this reason, the 1971 Synod of Bishops confirmed: “The law of priestly celibacy, in force in the Latin Church, must be fully preserved” (Ench. Vat., IV, 1219).
6. It is true that today the practice of celibacy encounters obstacles, sometimes even serious ones, in the subjective and objective circumstances in which priests find themselves. The Synod of Bishops has considered these, but has held that even today’s difficulties can be overcome if “the appropriate conditions are fostered, namely: the deepening of the interior life through prayer, self-denial, ardent charity towards God and neighbour, and the other aids of the spiritual life; human balance through an orderly integration into the fabric of social relations; fraternal relationships and contact with other priests and with the Bishop, by better implementing pastoral structures for this purpose, and also with the help of the community of the faithful” (Ibid., IV, 1216).
It is a kind of challenge that the Church issues to the mindset, the trends, the allurements of the world, with an ever-renewed commitment to consistency and fidelity to the Gospel ideal. For this reason, whilst acknowledging that the Supreme Pontiff may assess and determine what is to be done in certain cases, the Synod reaffirmed that in the Latin Church “the ordination of married men to the priesthood is not permitted even in particular cases” (Ibid., IV, 1220). The Church holds that the awareness of total consecration, which has matured over the centuries, still has reason to exist and to be perfected ever more.
The Church also knows, and reminds the priests and all the faithful through the Council, that “the gift of celibacy, so fitting to the priesthood of the New Law, is granted in great measure by the Father, on condition that all those who share in the Priesthood of Christ through the sacrament of Holy Orders—indeed, the whole Church—request it with humility and insistence” (PO 16).
But perhaps, even before that, it is necessary to ask for the grace to understand priestly celibacy, which undoubtedly involves a certain mystery: that of the call for boldness and trust in absolute attachment to the person and redemptive work of Christ, with a radicalism of renunciation that may appear shocking to human eyes. Jesus himself, in suggesting this, warns that not everyone can understand it (cf. Mt 19:10-12). Blessed are those who receive the grace to understand it, and remain faithful on this path!
[Pope John Paul II, General Audience, 17 July 1993]