Cardinal defends priestly celibacy

Cardinal Ouellet: "Going back on the celibacy of priests would have unforeseeable consequences"

“The celibacy of priests has been very fruitful in history and always will be,” said Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet in an interview with the Spanish edition of Aleteia. "The evangelizing force of the Catholic Church owes much to the celibacy of priests and religious."

While the question of celibacy for priests comes up regularly in debates and discussions, Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, former prefect of the dicastery for bishops, answered questions from the Spanish edition of Aleteia on this subject. “Priestly celibacy has been very fruitful in history and always will be,” he explains. “The evangelising force of the Church owes much to the celibacy of priests and religious. Indeed, the meaning of celibacy as a vocation is a testimony to the absolute love of God. According to him, "it is also a testimony of total availability to exercise the ministry as a disinterested service which becomes a true spiritual fatherhood".

And to resume: “Christ called his apostles to leave everything to follow him. Accepting this call – and this celibacy – is therefore “a confession of faith in the divinity of Christ, for only God can demand so much love and return it”. “I believe that going back on the celibacy of priests would have unforeseeable consequences”, he assures.

The raison d'être of the priesthood of priests is service to the priesthood of the baptized.

More broadly, Cardinal Ouellet observes today three great trials, difficulties for priests: “Religious indifference, pastoral failure and suspicions about their lives, which sometimes go as far as public insult. “First there is religious indifference because many baptized people live as if God did not exist, which makes it more difficult to find meaning in their lives,” he explains. Then comes pastoral failure “because pastoral proposals usually receive limited and disappointing responses after many efforts.” Finally, the suspicions concerning the life and morals of the priests. "It can go as far as public insult," recalls Cardinal Ouellet.

And what about the place of the laity with the priests? “Do the laity have anything to do with the priesthood? It may seem like no, because it's not about them. But, in reality, the raison d’être of the priesthood of priests is service to the priesthood of the baptized,” summarizes Cardinal Ouellet. “And this priesthood of the baptized implies that they participate in the spreading of the Spirit of the Gospel by the testimony of their faith, their hope and their charity. Thus, according to the Second Vatican Council, “the laity are part of the Church as mediators of salvation in Jesus Christ and participate in the consecration of the world. This is therefore, for Cardinal Ouellet, a question “which should be asked by the laity”.

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Cathcon: No more missional seeking out lost sheep in difficult situations once celibacy goes.  The Church becomes a very bourgeois matter, as can be seen from the Church of England.