RomeSweetHome wrote:Aieno Wrote
I would "understand" the above to mean that Paul was teaching that all men and women who were unmarried should remain unmarried not just priests. I also understand that Paul is clear in Timothy and Titus that a bishop should be a married man who can control his own family. It would appear that Paul understood that to be a good leader of a spiritual family he had to be a good leader of his own family.
All men and women that were
unmarried should remain unmarried? How does that work? And how would the worlds population continue exactly? as we are
ALL ummaried at one point therefore we the humans, will gradually disappear with your theory.
Paul expected Christ to return in his lifetime. If you understand this then you understand why he advised (did not command and did not state celibacy was a better condition than being married) the unmarried to remain unmarried.
St. Peter the first Bishop of Rome was married: "When Jesus came into Peter's house, he saw Peter's mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever" (Matthew 8:14 NIV).
All the ordained ministers of the Latin Church... are normally chosen from among men of faith who live a celibate life and who intend to remain celibate "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" [Matthew 19:12].
The RCC, unlike the Orthodox faith,
require priests to be unmarried. Again to appeal to Matthew 19, which is about marriage, divorce and remarriage has nothing to do with the priesthood. A divorced man will remain a eunuch to the glory of God in obedience to God's original design for marriage and sexual unions.
Called to consecrate themselves with undivided heart to the Lord and to "the affairs of the Lord" [1 Corinthians 7:32], they give themselves entirely to God and to men. Celibacy is a sign of this new life to the service of which the Church's minister is consecrated; accepted with a joyous heart celibacy radiantly proclaims the Reign of God. (Catechism of the Catholic Church # 1579)
Perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the kingdom of heaven was recommend by Christ the Lord [Matthew 19:12]. It has been freely accepted and laudably observed by many Christians down through the centuries as well as in our own time, and has always been highly esteemed in a special way by the Church as a feature of priestly life. For it is at once a sign of pastoral charity and an incentive to it as well as being in a special way a source of spiritual fruitfulness in the world. (Vatican Council II, Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests, Presbyterorum Ordinis # 16)
Aieno, Having unmarried clergy is a custom, not a doctrine; it is a practical and spiritual decision, not a matter of faith or morals.
Try to apply for the priesthood as a married man. If celibacy is a custom and not a doctrine why is it in the catechism? Or is the catechism just suggestions that can be ignored?
Peter, your first Pope wrote this about all those who are in Christ:
1 Peter 2:9-10
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. NAS
All believers are members of a royal priesthood and no believer has any more priestly authority than any other. We are all under the authority of our one and only High Priest Jesus Christ.
The apostalic succession was and remains a political ploy used by early "Popes" for political power over the western empire. This power was subsequently abused with the crusades, the inquisitions, and the excesses of the High Middle Ages, which contributed to the Protestant Reformation.
You really do need to read some real history and not just the sanitized p.r. put out by the RCC.