“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22: 37)
Celibacy is a way of loving, living, and serving. The practice of celibacy is an old age religious practice to which men, desiring to serve a higher power by joining religious orders, commit their lives. Although very controversial in the religious world today, celibacy ranks high in the life of many priests. Many people relate chastity to celibacy; however it is not the same concept. Chastity is an abstention from sexual intercourse, but Celibacy is the state of being unmarried after taking a religious vow. Although Priests also have to be chaste the intention of Celibacy is without being married, they will be chaste. This religious practice started a long time ago.
Since 1139, when canon law stated that ordination and matrimony are mutually exclusive, Roman Catholic Priests have been required to make a commitment to celibacy. However, there was a law before this that stated priests were able to be married, but could not have intercourse with their wives. Soon enough it was replaced. Celibacy is one of the forms of asceticism, which is defined as the rejection of bodily pleasures through sustained self-denial and self-mortification. In ancient Rome the vestal virgins (priestess of Vesta) were celibates and successful monasticism has everywhere been accompanied by celibacy as an ideal. In Church history celibacy has come up as a controversial topic.
In the time of Jesus however celibacy was not high in demand. Jesus designated Peter, a man who had a mother-in-law (Gospel of Luke 4:38, NAB) to be the first Pope. In Judaism the priesthood was considered a hereditary profession and priests were able to marry. ...
... middle of paper ...
...t the heart of what's wrong." National Catholic Reporter 46.17 (2010): 18. Catholic Periodical and Literature Index. EBSCO. Web. 18 Apr. 2011.
"CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Celibacy of the Clergy." NEW ADVENT: Home. Web. 18 Apr. 2011. .
Matthew. The New American Bible. New York: Catholic Book, 1991. Print.
Luke. The New American Bible. New York: Catholic Book, 1991. Print
"The Biblical Foundation of Priestly Celibacy." Vatican: the Holy See. Web. 18 Apr. 2011. .
"Vocations and Celibacy: A Marian Prayer for Priests from Pope John Paul II « The Orate Fratres." The Orate Fratres. Web. 18 Apr. 2011. .
Jeanne de Jussie, a dedicated Catholic nun, recorded events that took place in Geneva during the Reformation as the official chronicler for the Saint Clare convent. Although littered with biases, Jeanne de Jussie’s experiences reflect broader trends during the Reformation; therefore, The Short Chronicle is a valid source and not merely a personal attack against the Protestants. Her experiences and beliefs, including those concerning celibacy, reflected those of many members of the Catholic Church during the Reformation. Also, her categorization of Protestants as ‘heretics’ was consistent with the practices of the Catholic Church. Although biased, her fears about Protestant views on celibacy and marriage were legitimate and consistent with
Saunders, William P. Straight Answers: Answers to 100 Questions about the Catholic Faith. Baltimore, MD: Cathedral Foundation, 1998. Print.
Another grievance towards the Bishops was that many of them ignored their vow of chastity by having mistresses and illegitimate children. The lower clergy and parish priests hadn't got a better reputation. They were viewed as ... ... middle of paper ... ...
During the Great Jubilee year, John Paul II gave a relevant speech of apology on behalf of the entire Catholic Church for the serious sins committed by its members for over 2,000 years. Since John Paul II did that, he wished the Church to enter the new millennium with a clean slate, allowing it to speak to and discuss freely with the other religions of the world, including the cultures and nations from a place not only of permanency but also of moral and religious power, having acknowledged in specific ways the crimes, from time to time unbearable, committed by its human origins throughout history. These apologies were hardly accepted, and common apologies for sins committed against the Church and its members have not been imminent. “Catholics distinguish between the holiness of the inevitable sinful nature of men, including the men who serve the Church stated by Thomas E. Woods Jr.” From the Catholic observation point, the Church presents two parts: One representing its divine nature as the untarnished body of Christ, and one directing on the weaknesses of the Church's human members suffering from sin, which does not prevent it from receiving God's forgiveness through the sacraments, however troubled it may be by the sins of its members.... ...
Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron is a series of tales written during the Late Middle Ages that is meant to entertain the reader. While the entertainment value of Boccaccio’s work in undeniable, the Decameron also provides the reader with information about society at the time, and Boccaccio’s own worldview. One of the most prevalent themes throughout the Decameron is the portrayal of clergymen and members of religious communities as negative influences on those around them, constantly behaving in a manner unfit for those who are supposed to be moral and spiritual exemplars. Throughout the tales told by the lieta brigada, many priests, and friars are portrayed as being extremely lustful and greedy, frequently indulging in sex (often with the wives of other men), and living lives more befitting of a minor lord than a monk. Those clergymen who are not portrayed as out rightly immoral are usually stupid, and are unable to stop others from acting immorally because of their ignorance. Despite this, a few of the clergymen in the story are shown as ultimately having good intentions, or improving in morality through the actions of another. To understand all of these criticisms of the clergy, we must look at them through a historical lens, and observe the behavior of members of the Church in the Late Middle Ages. Finally, these analyses of the Decameron’s portrayal of clergymen may give us insight into Boccaccio’s own faith, and allow us to understand the motives of the author. In this essay, I will analyze the portrayal of clergymen and members of religious communities in Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron. I will focus on the licentiousness, greed, and stupidity of these members of the Church, while also evaluating the few portrayals of good me...
Many bishops and abbots (especially in countries where they were also territorial princes) bore themselves as secular rulers rather than as servants of the Church. Many members of cathedral chapters and other beneficed ecclesiastics were chiefly concerned with their income and how to increase it, especially by uniting several prebends (even episcopal sees) in the hands of one person, who thus enjoyed a larger income and greater power. Luxury prevailed widely among the higher clergy, while the lower clergy were often oppressed. The scientific and ascetic training of the clergy left much to be desired, the moral standard of many being very low, and the practice of celibacy not everywhere observed. Not less serious was the condition of many monasteries of men, and even of women (which were often homes for the unmarried daughte...
In the Catholic Church, priests are the moral authority. When one has questions with his faith he is taught that he can go to his priest for informed answers. In this paper I also hope to deal with how these priests failed their flock. They took advantage of men who came to them for help when in trouble and preyed on the little boys who came to the church for guidance. In addition to the tacit feeling that as a priest they will only do what is right, these men told their victims that they would deal with the moral implications.
Stanley, George Edward. Pope John Paul II: Young Man of the Church. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 2005. Print.
...des aid to the husband by completing household duties and by bearing children. Divorce in Christianity is not encouraged; in fact, everything possible is to be done to save the marriage. In fact, the Catholic Church does not grant divorce unless an annulment is allowed. An annulment will be given if there is any type of abuse in the relationship. Nevertheless, the Catholic Church will first try to rescue what remains of the marriage before allowing the couple to divorce. Marriage is viewed as being a relationship that will last till death is the reason that the couple be separated. Unlike Islam, in the Bible there is no definite answer for the question about Jesus ever being married. Lastly, the Christian faith does not allow for marriage to be completed between the same sexes. The only Christian division that allows it to an extent is some branches of Protestants.
The Middle Ages were a time of expanding and experimenting sexually for the people. Religious figures who had taken vows of celibacy had children, sometimes with more than one woman. Even some popes of the time had illicit affairs. However, adultery was often condoned, especially in knights, because the Chivalry Code expected of them certain “actions”:
When a man and a woman come together and bind in holy matrimony, two people become one. In marriage, two people come before the pastor and under God with their partner, to recite promises that are vows. In many religions such as Christianity and Catholicism, sex should be for left only for marriage. Sex is an emotional experience that is for married people to enjoy sexual pleasure together. Love and trust are sacred for the foundation of marriage.
St. Augustine's sordid lifestyle as a young man, revealed in Confessions, serves as a logical explanation for his limited view of the purpose of sexuality in marriage. His life from adolescence to age thirty-one was so united to passionate desire and sensual pleasure, that he later avoided approval of such emotions even within the sanctity of holy union. From the age of sixteen until he was freed of promiscuity fifteen years later, Augustine's life was woven with a growing desire for illicit acts, until that desire finally became necessity and controlled his will. His lust for sex began in the bath houses of Tagaste, where he was idle without schooling and "was tossed about…and boiling over in…fornications" (2.2). Also during that time, young Augustine displayed his preoccupation with sexual experience by fabricating vulgarities simply to impress his peers. In descript...
The Church was run by a Pope, monks, and nuns, and priests. The Pope was the head of the Catholic Church. The Pope was views as God’s representative, and the populous looked up to them on how to live and pray. It was the Pope’s choice, to decide what the church would teach. Pope Benedict forced all monks and nuns to take three vows, in order to practice in the Church. A vow of poverty, to give up all worldly goods; a vow of chastity to stay single; a vow of obedience to promise to obey the church and the rules of the monastery (Benedictine Rules). Nuns were women who prayed, weaved, practiced teaching, and wrote books, while monks devoted majority of their lives to the discipline of prayer.
The concept of hegemonic masculinity is criticized for being framed within hetero-normative conception of gender that divides male-female difference and ignores difference and exclusion within the gender categories. Through this theory, many heterosexual and homosexual individuals find their sexual identities through their moral beliefs about their sexual behaviors and dictate whether they are virgin or non-virgin. With the flexibility about virginity loss and the different meanings of what it is being a virgin revolves around complexity, therefore we cannot give a set description of the sexual identity of virginity because of our multiple acts of coitus and sexualities such as gay, lesbian, or bisexual sexual behaviors. The reason why I propose this is because with the given different types of coitus, and dependent on the social group and social factors that play within the role of identity is far more difficult to come to an exact meaning of considering who and what makes you a virgin or non-virgin.
...faith in the God who creates the world, people will always fail to grasp the idea behind the Catholic Vision and Imagination. Furthermore, although God remains always present in the midst of His flock, one can easily lose the awareness and consciousness of this Presence that accompany all human being. When people forget what is to be a Church, that community that is to be formed and lived is also lost. However, there remains the tradition, images, and architecture that speaks and transmits a voice beyond themselves that definitely calls people to relate their desires for depth and truth to the living God.