Spiritual basis of celibacy ignored
He dismisses the Fr Dillane case with an airy “rules and regulations had been broken.”
Fr Dillane broke his priestly vows over a period of 10 years with a woman young enough to be his granddaughter.
Could he not have done the honourable thing from the beginning and resigned from the active ministry?
Celibacy for the Catholic priesthood is voluntary in the sense that individuals make that choice. Nobody forces them to do so.
Because the Church upholds this, as it has done traditionally, Fr D’Arcy, incredibly, accuses the Church of “bringing itself into disrepute”.
Because it is a Church discipline, rather than a matter of dogma, a dispensation allows for Anglican clerics who convert to be ordained as married men.
However, this does not end the debate on the side of Fr D’Arcy.
By its very definition, a dispensation is not the norm but an exception allowed under very particular circumstances.
Fr D’Arcy claims to outline the history of celibacy, but of course he proceeds to do precisely the opposite.
At no point in his feature article does he provide a spiritual basis for priestly celibacy.
He does not refer to the obvious fact that Jesus himself was celibate. He makes no reference to St Paul’s argument in favour of celibacy in that the celibate can devote himself or herself totally and selflessly to God’s work whereas those who are married must be concerned with things of this world.
He pays lip-service to ‘respecting’ celibacy in the priesthood, but at no point does he recognise its value in a world where people’s sexuality is commodified and cheapened such as never before.
Furthermore, those who choose to leave the clerical state were not “rejected.” They made a free choice to go.
Fr D’Arcy laments the loss of exceptional leadership, but that would indicate he confines Church leadership to the clergy.
Surely this view is pre-Vatican II? Can there not be exceptional leaders as lay people?
His conclusion is rather ridiculous in that he assumes it requires a married priesthood to “regain some semblance of credibility.”
Nothing would restore credibility in the Catholic priesthood as much as to witness priests, happy in their ministry and faithful to proclaiming what the Church actually teaches, in season or out.
It is out of season now, and all the more reason for priests such as Fr D’Arcy to remain faithful to that teaching.
James McGrath
Birchgrove
Hollyford
Co Tipperary
