Why does priest should remain celibate?

Answer 1

Speaking of the Catholic faith and those 'daughter' churches with similar structure, priestly celibacy - a mandatory practice of abstaining from marriage for all Catholic clerics - was adopted in A.D. 1139 at the Second Lateran Council.

The Bible has examples of those called to serve God being celibate but nowhere does it command those who which to serve God to be in such a state. Indeed, the Apostle Paul was inspired to say this about our 'pulls of the flesh:'

1 Corinthians 7:8-9New King James Version (NKJV)

8 But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; 9 but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Answer 2

Priests remain celibate at the order of Church authority (Church could even make it optional if they wanted to).

Most of us know that raising a family is quite difficult, but just imagine the giant task that a priest would undertake if he was to raise a family and work for the Church 24/7 also!

Celibacy also ensures that priests are focused on serving God. It keeps them aimed at serving the Church.

Christ also proposed celibacy to those who can accept it.

Answer 3

The purpose is to more perfectly conform themselves to Christ.

from The Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, English translation 19941579 All the ordained ministers of the Latin Church, with the exception of permanent deacons, 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." (Mt 19:12) Called to consecrate themselves with undivided heart to the Lord and to "the affairs of the Lord," (1 Cor 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. (Cf. Presbyterorum ordinis 16)

from A Catholic Dictionary, edited by Donald Attwater, Second edition, revised 1957Celibacy of the Clergy.In the Western church marriage is prohibited to all clergy of the rank of subdeacon and upwards (deacon since Vatican Council II). This is a matter of discipline which rests on a positive enactment of ecclesiastical law, which is never dispensed, except in the case of a subdeacon or deacon who relinquishes his orders; all who are ordained subdeacon by that very fact take a solemn vow of perfect chastity. It is grounded in the doctrine of the superior excellence of virginity and has been reinforced by the spiritual and temporal experience of many centuries: by it the clergy are left free for the things of God (cf., 1 Cor. Vii, 32-3), and on countless occasions have been enabled to carry on under circumstances wherein wife and children would have made it impossible. At the beginning of the 4th century the Spanish Synod of Elvira ordered married clergy to live in continence, and this discipline spread throughout the Latin church: by the first Council of the Lateran (1123) marriage of the higher clergy was declared not only unlawful but invalid... ....

from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980Ecclesiastical celibacy was a logical development of Christ's teaching about continence (Matthew 19:10-12). The first beginnings of religious life were seen in the self-imposed practice of celibacy among men and women who wished to devote themselves to a lifetime following Christ in the practice of the evangelical counsels. Celibacy was one of the features of the earliest hermits and a requirement of the first monastic foundations under St. Pachomius ©. 290-346). Over the centuries religious celibacy has been the subject of the Church's frequent legislation. The Second Vatican Council named chastity first among the evangelical counsels to be practiced by religious and said that "it is a special symbol of heavenly benefits, and for religious it is a most effective means of dedicating themselves wholeheartedly to he divine service and the works of the apostolate" (Decree on the Up-to-date Renewal of Religious Life, 12). (Etym. Latin caelibatus,single life, celibacy.)

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Answer 4

Not all 'Christians' denominations/sects prohibit a priest from marrying and raising a family - the Episcopal Church and other Protestant Churches allow marriage. It is predominantly the Catholic Church - East as well as West - that has instituted this 'discipline' of priestly celibacy.


This was not how the Church began in the 1st Century or Apostolic times. Consider Paul here:

1 Corinthians 9:5New International Version (NIV)
5 Don't we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas [a]?
Footnotes:

1. 1 Corinthians 9:5 That is, Peter

So even Peter, the chief administrator of the Church of God was married. Again, Paul was inspired to tell us all that we each are given gifts and some can remain unmarried and not sin. But those who would sin due to fleshy temptations, these should marry in order to not sin. Just look at recent news events of all those in the Priesthood who have found their satisfaction for their urges in the innocence of young children/adults and probably various women as well:


1 Corinthians 7:8-9New International Version (NIV)
8 Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. 9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Presently, in the drive of the 'mother' Church (Catholic) to 'reattach' the disobedient 'daughter' Churches (mainly Protestant and Anglican), the Church 'overlooks' the marriage of a Protestant Priest who wishes to align himself with the Catholic Church. This would suggest that the 'discipline' of priestly celibacy can possibly be changed for all ordinations to the priesthood.

Answer 5

Because priests are married to the Church.