The Issue of Priest's Inability to Marry in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches

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This issue of priest and marriage has to do with the Catholic and Orthodox churches because they are the only ones who have priests in their religion while other religions refer to their religious leaders as Reverends or Ministers. There have been arguments on the aspect of Catholic Priest not being allowed to get married as compared to other religions who allow their ministers and reverends to get married. Being a celibate priest means that the priest would have to abstain from sex and not get married because of a religious vow. The Catholic Church believes in celibacy of priest and due to this, there have been controversies and debates because some religions believe that the absence of a female figure in the life of a priest has its effects.

Firstly, before a person can become a catholic priest, there are some stages required for the person to go through. Once the person has acknowledged the fact that he is ready to become a priest and he has been accepted by the diocese, he has to go to seminary school. In the seminary school, he will be prepared both spiritually and academically for the priesthood life. Staying in the seminary school is for a period of six to nine years depending on your educational background. It may seem long for them but they have to endure because it shows whether the person is ready to be a priest or not. After this phase is completed, the person is then ordained a priest and he takes his religious vows and the vow of celibacy is one of them. The Catholic Church believes that once a person has taken that vow, the person has to keep to it and for a Catholic priest to get married means he has broken his vow both to God and the church.

For the Catholic Church, Celibacy has been a church rule since the twel...

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...t if Catholic priests were allowed to get married, there would not be scandals such as these. It is because these priests have been denied marriage that is why they crave for something else even if they know it is wrong.

It is true that there have been cases of priest abusing kids but the Catholic Church do not believe it is because the priest are not married. For a person to sexually abuse a child means the person is sick. There are normal people who abuse children sexually and they are referred to as people who are mentally sick and so a priest should be no different. Finding priests who abuse young children sexually is just like sexual abuse in a family which is called incest e.g. a father sleeping with his daughter or mother sleeping with son. This is not to say that it is a normal thing but it should not be blamed on the fact that the priests are not married.

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