Cardinal Sarah did his research but seems to be basing his position on the local Council of Elvira in 305. However, this is just a local and not a universal Council of the entire holy Catholic Church. He cant find any evidence earlier that this. There is simply no evidence of universal legislation on mandated celibacy and mandate continence before AD 305. 'Mandated' or compulsory is the key word. The universal (not local) Catholic Church did not have 'mandated' celibacy. That 'some' married priests were continent and 'some' married priests were celibate does not mean that 'all' priests were required to be celibate or continent yet. This universal mandated requirement part came later in Lateran I & II. (Also, is Sarah saying that there is something deficient in the East?) My statement here is that we should maintain celibacy in the Latin rite as the norm but allow dispensations on a case by case basis, just as Pope Pius XII, Paul Vi, JP2 and B16 have allowed married Latin rite priests. Widening the exceptions to the celibacy norm does not mean abolishing the celibacy norm. The Church has the authority to regulate on this issue. The Church taketh away but the Church also giveth.
GaryLockhart Married Roman Catholic Priesth2 hours ago edited Is it your prudential opinion that the canons codified by the Council of Elvira - the exact date of which is not certain - implemented new disciplines regarding clerical continence?
Why are all Bishops in the Eastern Rites celibate?
This is an excellent question. Based on the evidence provided by Cardinal Stickler (which I think Sarah uses for his own position), a good author of a book from Ignatius Press, we can point to 3 earliest data on 'mandated' clerical continence-- 2 of which was local and 1 of which was from a Pope in the 4th Century: Elvira in (southern modern day Spain) c. late 3rd Century or early 4th Century, Carthage in the late 300s, and Pope Siricius in the late 300s. Stickler relies on scholarship by Cochini (also published by Ignatius Press) and Cholij who I think left the priesthood after writing about celibacy. Those local councils Elvira & Carthage definitely mandated continence, but the jurisdiction pertained to those local regions and were not universal. Given these, I think it is safe to hypothesize that, while these local councils did not legislate new universal norms, it did not preclude that both celibate and married priests coexisted in their region. So to answer your question, then, no universal discipline was created, but rather it codified an existing practice in that local region. Stickler readily admits that he cannot find evidence earlier than that! Anecdotally, I have asked and commented on more traditional sites like this one asking for earlier evidence than the 4th century on 'mandated' continence, and everyone tends to cite Elvira or Siricius from the 4th Century. But all this does is shoot oneself in the foot whether mandated continence came from the Twelve Aposotles or not. Continence and celibacy appears during the time of the Twelve and the NT, but what does not appear is evidence for 'mandated' continence and 'mandated' celibacy. HOWEVER, what is more noteworthy is what 3 earlier documents on clerical discipline stated (or not state) on the conduct of clergy: the Apostolic Canons of c 217 & the Didascalia of c 250 regulate clerical requirements, but no restrictions existed there for prohibiting marital relations. Even the universal and ecumenical Council of Nicea in 325 did not prohibit married priests from having marital relations or mandate continence, but rather Nicea only stated that ordained priests could not marry after ordination which is a different matter. The silence of the evidence for mandated continence before the 4th Century is deafening. Enter B16 a couple of weeks ago. I look forward to reading him and am willing to change my mind based on what he (not Sarah) wrote in his chapter 'contribution'. If B16 is basing celibacy and continence on Josephite marriages and the Levitical priesthood, this may have some merit for celibacy and continence, but whether this affects 'mandatory' or 'compulsory' continence as coming from the Twelve Apostles remains to be seen. B16 as Pope said that celibacy comes "from an epoch close to the Apostles." When Pius XII dispensed a married man to be ordained to the Latin rite priesthood in 1952, he did not expect mandated continence from the new married Roman Catholic priest he allowed and the 5 married priests that came after him in the 12 years that followed in Germany. I don't think Ordinariate Latin rite priests were asked to be continent by B16. Benedict XVI has done the most to promote a married Latin rite priesthood.
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