Celibacy & continence do NOT appear in these early Church documents on church disciplines:
Didache (c. AD 80) - did NOT mandate continence
Apostolic Canons (c. AD 217) - did NOT mandate continence
Didascalia (c. AD 250) - did NOT mandate continence
Council of Nicea (AD 325) a UNIVERSAL Council - did NOT mandate continence; decreed that priest cannot (re)marry after ordination
Conclusion: Mandated celibacy & mandated continence were local INNOVATIONS lacking universal and catholic discipline from the Twelve Apostles.
Pope Siricius in AD 385 first mandates continence.
The First Lateran Council in AD 1123 first mandates celibacy (no more married men ordained as priests in Latin rite). The East continues a 2,000+ year married priesthood where clergy have kids even after ordination.
If "mandated continence" was such an Apostolic Tradition, then Cardinal Josef Ratzinger would have included in it the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1992. But he did not. Thus, "continence" is neither part of the Deposit of Faith nor essential to the priesthood. It is mere ecclesial discipline which can change.
In fact, one may make a valid case that there most likely is some heretical neo-Manicheanism tendencies in those who push for mandated continence among the clergy. See HERE.
See also HERE for more links on the 4th Century local (not universal Tradition) of *mandated* continence.
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