Subject: GAYS AND THE CHURCH

To: DOUG LEE

From: Ric Carter

Date: 8/13/96

-=> Quoting Dave Hamilton to Doug Lee <=-

DH> About a message of Doug Lee to Lynda Bustilloz:<<<<

DL> I feel that priests *should* take an oath of celibacy.<<<<<

DH> Why?<<<<<<

DL> I'm sure there is some scripture somewhere that explains why it is the way it is. And if someone can point it out to me I would welcome it.<<<<<

Nope - no biblical text mentions clerical celibacy.

Here's the Official Word, from a guidebook to Roman Catholicism:

"Clerical celibacy is not a precept of the divine or natural law; neither is it a dogma of the Catholic Church. It is simply an obligatory law of the Western Church, imposed with a view to the dignities of the priesthood." -- THE QUESTION BOX by Rev. B.L. Conway, C.S.P. [The Paulist Press, 1903].

Historically, celibacy served a useful purpose when the Church was the power center of the western world. The Byzantine and Chinese empires operated similarly, with celibate or castrato heirarchies. This served to keep power from being concentrated in families...

Except that secular power ALWAYS finds places to accumulate.

Origin: ZA-ZEN! - Healdsburg, CA - 707.431.7640

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