Question: I've heard people recently saying something about celibacy being linked to land ownership during the Middle Ages. How should I respond?
Answer:
This is typical poor history. First of all, the REAL sources for clerical celibacy are:
Mat 19:9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery." 10 The disciples said to him, "If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry. But he said to them, "Not all men can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it."
Mat 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
Mar 10:29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, 30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
1Cr 7:7 I wish that all were as I myself am. [THAT IS UNMARRIED- ACS] But each has his own special gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.
1Cr 7:25 Now concerning the unmarried, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.
1Cr 7:26 I think that in view of the present distress it is well for a person to remain as he is. 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek marriage. 28 But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a girl marries she does not sin. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. 29 I mean, brethren, the appointed time has grown very short; from now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the form of this world is passing away. 32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; 33 but the married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman or girl is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please her husband.35 I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord. 38 So that he who marries his betrothed does well; and he who refrains from marriage will do better. 39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If the husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. 40 But in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I have the Spirit of God.
There are also 4 books on clerical celibacy that help to answer this trite argument about medieval inheritance:The Case for Clerical Celibacy : Its Historical Development and Theological Foundations -- by Alfons Maria Cardinal SticklerClerical Celibacy in East and West by Roman Cholij Celibacy in the Early Church : The Beginnings of Obligatory Continence for Clerics in East and West by Stefan Heid Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy by Christian Cochini In all of these books it is made clear that celibacy and continence within marriage were mandatory for all ordained ministers in apostolic times and afterwards. The change to allow priests to have use of their marriage (i.e., have sex with their wives) only came about since the Quinisext Council in 682 AD which was never recognized by the Popes as Ecumenical but which the Eastern Orthodox claim as an extension of the 5th and 6th General Councils. This was never the norm before that. The practice of priests having concubines became common in some places in Europe as an abuse and was quashed by Pope Gregory because the concubines and their children were trying to claim right of inheritance on Church property. This was one reason why the Pope reinforced the official apostolic discipline from of old. It was nothing new.
Art Sippo
The Catholic Legate