Celibacy implies the decision or obligation not to have sexual relations.
The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) recognizes the term celibacy as a synonym for singleness , which is the state of being single. A single man is, on the other hand, one who is not married.
Celibacy (from the Latin caelibatus ), however, is associated with a life choice . The concept is usually linked to the way of life of religious people who choose not to have sexual relations . In the case of Catholic priests, celibacy is an indispensable and unavoidable condition for ordination.
The strong influence of the Catholic Church regarding celibacy means that, at a general level, the term is exclusively associated with religion . However, celibacy can be a philosophical or social choice, and can even be forced by force (as was the case with slaves).
Priestly celibacy
Mandatory priestly celibacy in Catholicism was established at the Council of Trent ( 16th century ). This condition is usually justified by the need for the priest to consecrate himself exclusively to God . Among the detractors, there are those who claim that celibacy is the cause of the numerous cases of sexual abuse committed by members of the Church.
The notion of celibacy can be compared to chastity , which is the voluntary moderation of behavior to regulate sexual pleasures and acts. Christianity believes that chastity involves the ability to direct sexual desire toward moral goals. In the case of single people, chastity translates into sexual abstinence, while, in the case of married people, chastity implies fidelity.
Mandatory celibacy for priests was established in the 16th century.
Brief history of this ban
Contrary to what many scholars try to have us believe , celibacy is a modern invention , even the secondary role of women within the church is.
It is known that the First Christian Community (led by the disciples of Jesus) was made up of several married men, many of them even with children, and in it it was the women who presided over the Eucharistic meal in the 1st century.
Starting in the second century, an ideology known as Gnosticism began to develop, which was characterized by rejecting all questions that had to do with material things and the pleasures of the body; Things related to the spirit were considered good; and the material was associated with darkness and everything bad. It was believed, then, that a married person could not be perfect, because they were diverting their true work in the world. Despite this, it was not until the 4th century that the marriage of priests was prohibited . At the Council of Elvira, held in the year 306, a decree was determined that said that a priest who slept with his wife the night before giving mass would lose his job.
In the next Council, of Nicaea, it was decreed that no man who had already been ordained could marry and in the following one, in the year 325, it was determined that women could not be ordained ; This leads us to understand that previously, women could be ordained and exercise the priesthood.
In 385 Siricius abandoned his wife to be consecrated pope and decreed that priests could no longer sleep with their wives and some time later celibacy clung to the words of Saint Augustine who said that there was nothing more powerful to debase the spirit than the caresses of a woman and determined that those priests who were found in bed with their wife would be excommunicated .
In the year 590, the pope known as Gregory the Great stated that all sexual desire was intrinsically diabolical and recommended that priests leave their families and dedicate themselves definitively to the Church. Despite this, there was still no unanimity in this regard and in the 8th century, Pope Boniface wrote that no bishop or priest in Germany was celibate .
Celibacy, abortions and infanticides
The imposition of celibacy is considered to be a major cause of heinous acts committed by members of the Church ; So much so that, as recorded in certain documents, in the year 836, this institution had to openly accept that in many convents and monasteries abortions and infanticides had been performed to cover up the actions of certain clerics who could not remain firm in this mandate.
Despite all these horrific acts, in the year 1123 Pope Calixtus II decreed that clerical marriages were invalid and this mandate was subsequently not touched upon again, becoming a strict rule for anyone who felt called to the priesthood . It is worth mentioning that in 1095 Pope Urban II ordered that the wives of priests be sold as slaves and that their children be abandoned.
To this day, it is believed that the Church should review this rule, because the call to the priesthood has greatly decreased and, possibly, one of the reasons is this imposed sexual abstinence .