Dear Grace, When and why did celibacy become required of priests in the Catholic Church?
Many people want to know, “Why can’t a Catholic priest get married?” Sometimes people ask this because they might think that the life of a priest looks lonely and they are concerned for him. This kind of thinking, however, stems from a lack of understanding about the priesthood. Perhaps we are looking too much at the law and not seeing celibacy as a “gift.” We miss something when we do that. To abandon “everything” for Christ is truly a call from God. This in no way means that it will always be easy, but then no true vocation is always so. Celibacy, which describes the state of being unmarried, has been an issue in the Church throughout her history, and there has been muh misunderstanding, especially in recent times. The law requiring a celibate clergy developed over centuries. However, historical documents clearly show that not only is the ideal of celibacy found in the Gospels, but that it was practiced from the very beginning of the Church. Though some of the apostles had wives, the
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