Prayer Crusade called by ArchBhp Schneider and Cdnl Burke

I like the sound of crusade!!!

Maolsheachlann makes a good point on celibacy not being a dogma of the faith. There are a few books from a conservative angle floating around which go close to claiming it is a doctrine not a discipline. These ignore the troubled history of enforcing the practice at times and the venerable practice of Eastern rites in communion with Rome that permit clerical marriage.

However the Amazonian Synod is a matter of enormous concern. As is now common practice in Rome all sorts of crazy notions are floated out and sly underhand methods are used to promote change. I doubt the massive collapse in South American Catholicism - Mainly to evangelical Protestantism will be stemmed by ordaining married tribal elders with little or no theological education. Ignorant "Massing" priests were a disaster before the reformation and there is no reason to suspect things will be different now.

By all means discuss the issue of celibacy openly. It will not solve the problems we now have with the clergy and episcopate. It will create a new set of problems as we see from the protestant experience! Still I can see some benefits but it is not the magic bullet to solving the vocations decline as some believe.

The synod discussion document itself appears to be a stew of Rosseau's noble savage , new age environmentalism , 1960s sociology and the conspicious absence of catholic tradition and the Gospel. Another typical product of a Vatican were a small clique of nut cases appear to have the papal ear. I couldn't imagine St John Paul allowing this nonsense for a second. How things have declined.


The current response from the vast majority of world bishops is ,in the words of that great theologian Mr Paul Simon - The sound of silence. And the various popes have all called for an honest and respectful dialogue within the church since the 1960s. Something is seriously broken.

Word!

The problem is in practical terms.

In better times, maybe the priestly celibacy could be discussed by Church fathers, but in these times, it cannot be done away with. How many liberals do you know advocate abolishing it so that 'allowing priests to marry' would open the door to more married men to become priests. However many married men become priests would be dwarfed by the demand for recognition of married gay priests that will inevitably descend upon the Church, rightfully seeing this as a crack in the armour. The issue of married priests in the Latin Rite cannot be up for discussion in an age where the concept of marriage itself is all but being destroyed.

If nothing else the existence of celibate priests in the Western world in such an age is not only a sign there is something unique and special about the Priesthood, but also, conversely, there is something 'seperate' and 'unique' about marriage itself that warrants the separation of the Sacrament from that of the Holy Orders. It may very well be possible that Divine Providence directed and cultivated the tradition of priestly celibacy for JUST such an age, and for JUST such a situation. That is why people are rightfully alarmed and the crusade is targeting that directly as an issue for prayer and fasting. The rest of the document however, is so full of other heresy and theological errors it would warrant the crusade itself, its attempting to paganise and protestantise the Church, to try to 'change' her, yet again.

It must be refuted.