Why don’t Catholic priests marry?
It is not because they despise marriage or family life, as many priests would tell you. Rather, they are so attracted to serving Christ and His people as priests that they are willing to be celibate (that is, willing to forego their natural right to marry and have a family) in order to enter the priesthood. And so they make a promise of celibacy before they are ordained to the transitional diaconate. But why is celibacy asked of Catholic priests while it is not asked of Protestant ministers and Jewish rabbis? While celibacy was not always asked of priests and, even today, exceptions have been made for ordained ministers who convert to the Catholic faith and wish to be ordained priests, the Church has seen the wisdom of choosing her priests from among those men who believe the Lord has also given them the capacity to live a chaste celibate life. Jesus himself lived a celibate life — and a priest, unlike a minister or rabbi, represents Jesus in a unique way in his very person. Celibacy f
