Is the priest shortage problem due to celibacy or is it about commitment?

by Father Thomas Wilson

Last summer I attended an ecumenical conference on marriage preparation. In casual conversations with clergy from a wide variety of backgrounds, I learned that regardless of religious affiliation, clergy are frustrated that couples seem less able to commit to their marriages than in the past.

The anecdotal evidence was confirmed when the primary speaker shared with us that there are simply fewer people of typical "marrying age" getting married, and that couples even willing to step forward and talk about the commitment to marriage should be considered the "cream of the crop" for those of us working with them. They are counter-cultural.

Commitment, especially one of a lifetime, is difficult for a generation that has seen fewer "successful" lifetime commitments than my generation experienced. Whether the commitments are to marriage or priesthood, young adults are having a difficult time with them. Recent challenges to the church’s discipline of priestly celibacy underestimate the reality of the cultural situation we face. In an environment where fewer people are committing to anything, the issue is not celibacy, but commitment.

It is easy to assert that if celibacy were not required, men would more likely become priests. Two incorrect assumptions are at the base of this assertion.

First is that men, without the requirement of celibacy, would successfully commit their entire lives to the priesthood. Our current experience is that lifetime commitments are suffering. It is an unrealistic leap to think that a married priesthood would quickly change society’s general approach to permanent commitment, and unleash a stampede of men ready, willing, and capable of making that commitment and serving the church with the rest of their lives.

The second assumption is that celibacy is the hardest part about being a priest. I ask potential candidates about the greatest challenges they will face as priests. Rarely is celibacy listed as the greatest challenge. Most frequently cited is the difficulty in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a culture that does not believe and is shrouded in materialism and secularism. That confirms my own and many of my peers’ experience in priestly ministry.

All candidates take seriously whether they are called to a celibate life, and that is a critical part of each one’s discernment, but few challenge the wisdom of the discipline of celibacy for Latin Rite priests. They do not see priesthood as a "reward" for those who can live a celibate life. They see celibacy as a freeing gift allowing them to serve with an undivided heart and be a witness of the life to come (see Matthew 22:30) and to the world around them. It is up to them to discover if they have the gift.

The value of celibacy is even greater now than it has been in the past. The call to a life of priestly celibacy for the kingdom of God is counter-cultural. It flows against the tide in its way of life, the choice to forego the good of marriage, and in its permanent nature. It says yes to Christ in a way that is heroic in its love and unusual in its permanence.

Priestly celibacy often is set up as the straw man in debates within the church. This short-sighted approach prevents us from getting to the heart of the real issues we face in our culture. We live in a society where fewer people are making lifetime commitments of any kind. Those willing to do so are the "cream of the crop."

Is our "problem" celibacy or is it permanent commitment?