Arguing Whether or not Clerical Celibacy Should be Maintained :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Arguing Whether or not clerical Celibacy Should be Maintained Like his two older brothers, house Vincent Serrano became an altar boy at St. Josephs Church in Mendham, New Jersey. Invited to reprimand the parish priest in the rectory, he became--from the succession he was 9 to the time he was 16-- a victim of serial molestation groping, sodomy, oral sex, and agonistic masturbation, (Press). One New Jersey priest convicted of molestation, said that his vow of virtue made no mention of abstaining from sex,(Saharko). In order to determine the economic value of celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church, the exact meaning of celibacy must be understood. Celibacy, as defined by 21st coulomb Websters Family Encyclopedia, is voluntary abstinence from marriage and sexual intercourse. The state of celibacy is idealistic above that of marriage in the Church based upon 1 Corinthians 732-35, which states, He that is un matrimonial careth for the things that belong to the headmaster, how he may recreate the Lord But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. . . . And this I speak. . . that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction. Thats a wonderful ideal, except 1 Corinthians 79 says, But if they tail endnot contain, let them marry for it is ruin to marry than to burn ( with passion). While its true that if men dont want to abstain from sex they could just stay out of the priesthood, the number of priests has declined so ofttimes that it probably would be better to just allow the priesthood to marry. By requiring celibacy as a conditon of ordination. . . the Church forces itself to select from a much too extra pool,(Press). By revoking the policy of mandatory celibacy,and thereby opening clerical positions to married men, the church could possibly dramatically increase the declining priesthod numbers. Its not just the deprivation of a sex life that drives men from the priesthood some just cant lot the ex treme loneliness. Rather that suffer alone they just leave, so that they can have worldly things a wife, children, a family all their own. Dan Rodricks, a editorialist for the Baltimore Sun states in his column, ...Leaving the priesthood quote. Advocates of celibacy worry that if priests marry, the congregation will be majorly neglected. However, that point is easily refuted because of the available examples of the leaders of uncelibate churches.