Excerpt:
16. (Celibacy is to be embraced and esteemed as a gift). Perfect and
perpetual continence for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, commended by Christ
the Lord(33) and through the course of time as well as in our own days freely
accepted and observed in a praiseworthy manner by many of the faithful, is held
by the Church to be of great value in a special manner for the priestly life. It
is at the same time a sign and a stimulus for pastoral charity and a special
source of spiritual fecundity in the world.(34) Indeed, it is not demanded by
the very nature of the priesthood, as is apparent from the practice of the early
Church(35) and from the traditions of the Eastern Churches where, besides those
who with all the bishops, by a gift of grace, choose to observe celibacy, there
are also married priests of highest merit. This holy synod, while it commends
ecclesiastical celibacy, in no way intends to alter that different discipline
which legitimately flourishes in the Eastern Churches. It permanently exhorts
all those who have received the priesthood and marriage to persevere in their
holy vocation so that they may fully and generously continue to expend
themselves for the sake of the flock commended to them.(36)
Indeed, celibacy has a many-faceted suitability for the priesthood. For the
whole priestly mission is dedicated to the service of a new humanity which
Christ, the victor over death, has aroused through his Spirit in the world and
which has its origin "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man but of God (Jn 1:13). Through virginity, then, or celibacy observed
for the Kingdom of Heaven,(37) priests are consecrated to Christ by a new and
exceptional reason. They adhere to him more easily with an undivided heart,(38)
they dedicate themselves more freely in him and through him to the service of
God and men, and they more expeditiously minister to his Kingdom and the work of
heavenly regeneration, and thus they are apt to accept, in a broad sense,
paternity in Christ. In this way they profess themselves before men as willing
to be dedicated to the office committed to them-namely, to commit themselves
faithfully to one man and to show themselves as a chaste virgin for Christ(39)
and thus to evoke the mysterious marriage established by Christ, and fully to be
manifested in the future, in which the Church has Christ as her only Spouse.(40)
They give, moreover, a living sign of the world to come, by a faith and charity
already made present, in which the children of the resurrection neither marry
nor take wives.(41)
For these reasons, based on the mystery of Christ and his mission, celibacy,
which first was recommended to priests, later in the Latin Church was imposed [Flannery translation says "imposed by law"] upon all who were to be promoted to sacred orders. This legislation, pertaining
to those who are destined for the priesthood, this holy synod again approves and
confirms, fully trusting this gift of the Spirit so fitting for the priesthood
of the New Testament, freely given by the Father, provided that those who
participate in the priesthood of Christ through the sacrament of Orders-and also
the whole Church-humbly and fervently pray for it. This sacred synod also
exhorts all priests who, in following the example of Christ, freely receive
sacred celibacy as a grace of God, that they magnanimously and wholeheartedly
adhere to it, and that persevering faithfully in it, they may acknowledge this
outstanding gift of the Father which is so openly praised and extolled by the
Lord.(42) Let them keep before their eyes the great mysteries signified by it
and fulfilled in it. Insofar as perfect continence is thought by many men to be
impossible in our times, to that extent priests should all the more humbly and
steadfastly pray with the Church for that grace of fidelity, which is never
denied those who seek it, and use all the supernatural and natural aids
available. They should especially seek, lest they omit them, the ascetical norms
which have been proved by the experience of the Church and which are scarcely
less necessary in the contemporary world. This holy synod asks not only priests
but all the faithful that they might receive this precious gift of priestly
celibacy in their hearts and ask of God that he will always bestow this gift
upon his Church.
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33. Cf. cited Ecclesiastical Constitution of the Apostles, XVIII: (ed. Th.
Schermann, Die allgemeine Kirchenordnung, I, Paderborn 1914, p 26; A. Harnack,
T. u. U., II, 4, p 13, nn 18 and 19); Pseudo-Jerome, The Seven Orders of the
Church (ed. A.W. Kalff, Wurzburg 1937, p 45); St. Isidore of Hispali,
Ecclesiastical Offices, c. VII (PL 83, 787).
34. Cf. Didascalia, II, 28, 4 (ed. F.X. Funk, p 108); Constitutions of the
Apostles, II, 28, 4;II, 34, 3 (ibid., pp 109 and 117).
35. Constitutions of the Apostles, VIII, 16, 4 (ed. F.X. Funk, 1, p 522, 13);
cf. Epitome of the Constitutions of the Apostles, VI (ibid., II, p 80, 3-4);
Testamentum Domini, (transl. I.E. Rahmani, Moguntiae 1899, p 69). Also in Trad.
Apost. (ed. B. Botte, La Tradition Apostolique, Munster, i. W. 1963, p 20).
36. Cf. Nm 11:16-25.
37. Roman Pontifical on the ordination of a priest, preface: these words are
also found in the Leonine Sacramentary, the Gelasian Sacramentary and the
Gregorian Sacramentary. Similar words can be found in the Oriental Liturgies:
cf. Trad Apost.: (ancient Latin version of Verona, ed. B. Botte, La Tradition
Apostolique de St. Hippolyte. Essai de reconstruction, Munster i. W. 1963, p
20); Constitutions of the Apostles, VIII, 16, 4 (ed. F.X. Funk, I, p 522, 16-
17); Epitome on the Constitutions of the Apostles, 6 (ed. F.X. Funk, II, p 20,
5-7); Testamentum Domini (transl. I.E. Rahmani, Moguntiae 1899, p 69);
Euchologium Serapionis, XXVII (ed. F.X. Funk, Didascalia and Constitutions, II,
p 190, lines 1-7); Maronite Rite of Ordination (transl. H. Denzinger, Rites of
the Orientals, II, Wurzburg 1863, p. 161). Among the Fathers can be cited:
Theodore of Mopsuestia, On First Timothy, 3, 8 (ed. Swete, II, pp 119-121);
Theodoretus, Questions on Numbers, XVIII (PG 80, 372 b).
38. Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution
Lumen Gentium, Nov. 21,
1964, n 28: AAS 57 (1965), p 35.
39. Cf. John XXIII, encyclical letter
Sacerdotii Nostri Primordia, Aug. 1,
1959: AAS 51 (1959), p 576; St. Pius X, Exhortation to the Clergy Haerent Animo,
Aug. 4, 1908: Acts of St. Pius X, vol. IV (1908), pp 237 ff.
40. Cf. Second Vatican Council,
Decree on the Pastoral Duties of Bishops,
Oct. 28, 1956 nn 15 and 16.
41. The Cathedral Chapter is already found in established law, as the "senate
and assembly" of the bishop (Code of Canon Law, c.391), or if there is not one,
an assembly of diocesan consultors (cf.
Code of Canon Law, cc. 423-428). It is
our desire to give recognition to such institutions so that modern circumstances
and necessities might better be provided for. As is evident, this synod of
priests forms the pastoral consilium spoken of in the
Decree on the Pastoral Duties of Bishops of Oct. 28, 1965 (n.27), of which the laity can also be
members, and whose function is mainly to map out a plan of action for pastoral
work. Concerning priests as counselors of the bishops, one might refer to the Didascalia, II, 28, 4 (ed. F.X. Funk,II, p 108); also Constitutions of the
Apostles, II 28,4 (ed. F.X. Funk, I, p 109); St. Ignatius Martyr, Magn. 6, 1
(ed. F.X. Funk, p 234, 10-16); Trall. 3, 1 (ed. F.X. Funk, p 244, 10-12);
Origen, Against Celsus, 3, 30: "Priests are counselors or 'bouleytai'" (PG 11,
957 d-960 a).
42. St. Ignatius Martyr, Magn. 6, 1: (ed. F.X. Funk, p 234, 10-13); St.
Ignatius Martyr, Trall., 3, 1: (ibid., p 244, 10-12); St. Jerome, On Isaiah, II,
3 (PL 24, 61 A).
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