Anglicans and celibacy: the sticking point

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Oct 29, 2009

To the surprise of no one, priestly celibacy is emerging as the most contentious issue to resolve in connection with the Pope's invitation to Anglicans. Italian journalists report that it was questions about celibacy that delayed the release of the Pope's apostolic exhortation. 

The question is not whether married Anglican priests will be allowed to become Catholic priests-- they will; in fact they already have-- but whether in the future married men will be admitted into priestly training in the "personal ordinariates" set up to continue the Anglican tradition. If Andrea Tornielli of Il Giornale is right, they won't. Tornielli has the best track record for accuracy in the past few years among all the Vatican-watchers in the Italian press, and Tornielli says that "everything suggests" the Anglo-Catholics of the future will be expected to fall into line with the Roman tradition of priestly celibacy. 

If that is the case-- if married priests will be allowed only under a sort of "grandfather clause" applying solely to Anglicans who are already in the clergy-- I foresee problems.

The personal ordinariates are being established to provide for the continuation of an "Anglican tradition" within the Catholic Church. Married priests are part of the Anglican tradition. Many Anglicans who are otherwise disposed to enter the Catholic Church will hesitate if the married clergy-- which some see as an essential part of their tradition-- is destined to disappear within a generation.

The Eastern Catholic churches admit married men to the priesthood. If the Vatican's offer denies Anglicans something that is already allowed for other Catholics, it will appear unfair-- or at the very least, ungenerous. 

Since the purpose of the Pope's plan is to make a generous offer to Anglicans, a strict handling of  celibacy could undermine the entire initiative. Anglicans who wish to enter the Catholic Church will be required to embrace all of existing Catholic doctrine, and rightly so, because our beliefs define our faith. But if they are required to accept all of the existing discipline of the Roman Church as well, the offer will no longer be so attractive.

I am not making an argument against priestly celibacy. Personally, I regard the discipline of priestly celibacy as a great strength of the Roman Catholic tradition. The key issue here, I think, is whether, after 450 years, the Anglo-Catholic tradition can be recognized as something separate: compatible, but separate.