The article is a reflection on the priesthood and the celibate related with it. The celibate is a topic that causes the discussion over the scandal of pedophilia in the Church, and although there is stressed in the media that no such sexual abuse should be combined with the requirement of the celibacy, these events indirectly provoked a discussion on the meaning of the celibacy and the need for the celibacy in the contemporary reality. There are some who maintains that because of the new look at celibacy is needed. The others ask questions about the origins and the original understanding of the celibacy. Did the medieval canonists and thinkers understand the celibacy in the same way as nowadays? What does the celibacy of a deacon and the priest mean today? What about the married priests of other religious communities, who are asking for the inclusion in the Latin Church? What is the procedure for receiving the dispensation from the celibacy? Is the celibacy with the tomorrow’s Church? Such questions and their answers constitute the main contents of the study.
The article analyses and, partly, criticises argumentation of the book Tragédie celibátu – mrtvá manželka ("Tragedy of celibacy—dead wife") by L. P. Baláž and M. Lajcha (Kľak, 2018). It observes the rhetorical and apologetical nature of the book and reveals its clericalist implications and presents different views on how to deal with this issue. It remarks that the refusal of marriage and the preference for sexual asceticism was not only a contribution of Platonic and Stoic philosophy but also merit and a genuine feature of early Christianity itself. It points out that the concept of longing to become a priest, which according to the authors should entitle a married man to get the ordination, has a clericalist backdrop. Finally, it questions the way how the authors tried to make the abolishing of mandatory celibacy a part of the conservative agenda by references to the very rigid features of Catholic conjugal ethics and the common gender stereotypes.
In the beginning, the ancient Church understood celibacy as a state of being unmarried of one’s own free-will. Once, married men were admitted to the clerical state. From the mid-third century, unmarried men who were ordained, could not marry. From the fourth century, the formal law of celibacy was introduced prescribing a total sexual abstinence in relations with one’s wife. These legal norms were confirmed by numerous synods in Gaul to ensure their observance. Abstinence under celibacy is motivated mainly by a cult continence, the teaching of the Gospel and that of St. Paul the Apostle. Non-observance was sanctioned by different penalties, especially removal from the office and excommunication.
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W Kościele starożytnym na początku celibat rozumiany jako bezżeństwo był dobrowolny. Bez ograniczeń święcono raz żonatych mężczyzn. Od połowy III w. zabraniano mężczyznom nieżonatym w chwili święceń zawierania małżeństwa po ich przyjęciu. Od IV w. powstało formalne prawo celibatu w sensie wymagania całkowitej wstrzemięźliwości seksualnej w relacjach z żoną. Te normy prawne potwierdzają liczne synody kościelne w Galii i przypominają o obowiązku ich przestrzegania. Celibat wstrzemięźliwości jest motywowany głównie wstrzemięźliwością kultową a także nauczaniem ewangelicznym i św. Pawła Apostoła. Za nieprzestrzeganie tych norm grożą różne kary kościelne, jakimi najczęściej są złożenie z urzędu i pozbawienie komunii.
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