More on celibacy
From the Kennebec Journal: Celibate priests: boon or bane?
I won’t go on to quote from the article. It’s the usual set of arguments and some of the typical confusion between man-made laws like celibacy and other teachings that people would like to change even though they are immutable. I cite the article only because it contains a reference to the PNCC.
Personally, I think that the media would be just as disenchanted with the Catholic teaching of the PNCC as they are with the Roman Church’s teachings on secular culture’s hot-button issues.
If a writer were to set aside those big red arguments and develop some sort of columnar list of agreed points and differences I think they would be able to develop a compelling piece on Churches’ varied approaches to the human condition and Their understanding of God’s relationship to mankind. Of course it would take time and a lot of research. Anyone out there?
It never ceases to amaze me that whenever the PNCC is mentioned in the media, they always forget ‘Catholic’. Oh well…
Personally, I think that the media would be just as disenchanted with the Catholic teaching of the PNCC as they are with the Roman Church’s teachings on secular culture’s hot-button issues.
As they would be with Orthodoxy if they cared or if Orthodoxy had the numbers and money in the West not to be blown off, which it probably never will. Most Orthodox are like conservative Anglicans on these: compromised on contraception but very limited divorce, no sex outside of marriage and no gay sex.
These articles tend to be tone-deaf on the distinction of ordaining the married which is ancient and Eastern, and marrying the ordained which may be only a matter of discipline but is largely foreign to the Catholic world.
I’m afraid the way this is written the average reader will think the ‘Polish National Church’ is the RC church in Poland, perhaps not knowing it is Latin Rite!
‘Celtic traditions’? Oh, dear. The early Catholics in the British Isles had an Eastern-like discipline on that (St Patrick was from a priestly family) but I’m afraid the writer means vagantes which are as much to do with Ireland as green Budweiser on St Patrick’s Day.
CITI = vagantes.
Something with real bishops and dioceses and congregations like the PNCC, even if one disagrees with them = not vagantes.
He left the church 18 years ago.
Did he? That’s another thing these articles get wrong. A whiff of clericalism they mistake for Catholicism. For example the RC blogger Amy Welborn’s late husband was a laicised priest but a very active RC. You can do that!
I saw that “Celtic” reference. That fits right in with the “we like all you guys because you’re not like them…” with no thought beyond “these groups —seem— to agree with our perspective,” which of course is untrue, or far more nuanced then they care to describe.
As to the he left phrase, of course they would posit that the Church left him, i.e., they wouldn’t bend to his way of thinking, celibacy likely only one of many issues.