Why can’t priests marry?

Priestly celibacy is a disciplinary norm, and not a dogma of faith, which means that it could be subject to change. In fact, some Eastern Catholic Churches allow married men to become priests, and do not embrace the discipline of celibacy for married clerics.

Having said that, the tradition of celibacy for both the Eastern and Western Churches dates back to Christ and the apostles, even though many priests and bishops of the early Church were married, including the Apostle Peter, who was also the first Pope.

Christ himself lived a celibate life, and spoke of the possibility that others could also choose to make “themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:12). Although Christ called married men to be the first priests and bishops of the Church, they left everything, including their wives, to follow Christ (cf. Luke 18-28).

St. Paul the Apostle noted the advantages of being single for those dedicated to preaching the Word of God, writing to the Corinthians that “an unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife” (1 Corinthians 7:32-33). In other words, the unmarried man is free to dedicate himself 100% to the Kingdom of God, whereas the married man has the responsibilities of carrying for a wife and family. Nevertheless, the Apostle doesn’t exclude married men from the priesthood, although he does prohibit bishops and deacons from marrying more than once (cf. 1 Timothy 3:2, 12).

Despite the acceptance of a married clergy in the early Church, working side-by-side with non-married clergy, the virtues of virginity and celibacy were always highly valued, and widely practiced. Evidenced by the writings of the early Fathers of the Church, it was common practice from the beginning of the Church for married clergy to abstain from sexual relations after ordination.

“The Apostles,” wrote St. Jerome, “were either virgins or continent [abstaining from sexual relations] after having been married. Bishops, priests, and deacons are chosen among virgins and widowers; in any case once they are ordained, they live in perfect chastity.”

With the Spanish Council of Elvira (circa 305), the Church began to articulate the discipline of celibacy for the priesthood, which at that time meant that married men could become priests, but they had to live celibate lives. Pope Siricius issued the first papal decree on celibacy in 386, which appealed again to apostolic tradition.  

Married clergy dealt with many complications, which largely centered on the difficulty of giving up a conjugal relationship with a lawfully married spouse. A practical question had to do with what was to be done with the wives and children. Some priests lived in separate houses from their families, so as to avoid temptation; some wives entered convents. There were also many heresies and confused teachings on the subject that led to a weakened discipline of celibacy.

Additionally, in the seventh century, the Eastern Churches lifted the discipline of celibacy for married priests, although many essential aspects remained, such as the selection of bishops from celibate clergy, the prohibition to marry more than once, and the inability to marry after ordination.

By the 10th century, there had been a notable cultural and religious decline that led to an almost general abandonment of celibacy among the clergy, and an abundance of immoral situations plagued the Church, but the Gregorian reforms of the 11th century encouraged the resumption of the discipline. The Second Lateran Council (1139) confirmed that a marriage that takes place after ordination is invalid, thus holding true to the practice of celibacy that existed in apostolic times.

By the time the Church convoked the Council of Trent (1545-1563), a strong faction of reformers waged a tough campaign against celibacy, but the council remained firm in its resolve. The council fathers confirmed that 1) ordained priests could not marry, which was a practice that had never been disputed throughout the history of the Church, and 2) married priests, if they were to become priests, would have to commit to living a celibate life, which the council fathers stated had been the practice since apostolic times.

More importantly, the council decided to set up seminaries to form young, as yet unmarried, candidates to the priesthood, thus eliminating the need to ordain married men. Additionally, deeper theological reflection began to take place that affirmed the value and dignity of the state of virginity, and its close affinity to the priesthood.

While there are practical arguments in favor of priestly celibacy, the Church does not insist on the discipline simply because it found a married clergy inconvenient or impractical. There are deeper “theological motivations,” as John Paul II reminded us in his letter “Pastores Dabo Vobis” (I Shall Give You Shepherds).

Writing in 1992, after a synod of bishops on the priesthood, the Pontiff noted that the Church “finds it ultimate motivation in the link between celibacy and sacred ordination, which configures the priest to Jesus Christ the head and spouse of the Church.”

“The Church, as the spouse of Jesus Christ,” he explained, “wishes to be loved by the priest in the total and exclusive manner in which Jesus Christ her head and spouse loved her. Priestly celibacy, then, is the gift of self in and with Christ to his Church and expresses the priest's service to the Church in and with the Lord.”

The Pontiff warned against considering celibacy as an “isolated or purely negative element, but as one aspect of the positive, specific and characteristic approach to being a priest.”

Celibacy, he continued, “is to be welcomed and continually renewed with a free and loving decision as a priceless gift from God.”

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, celibacy is one again affirmed as a practice of those who are “called to consecrate themselves with undivided heart to the Lord and to ‘the affairs of the Lord,’ they give themselves entirely to God and to men. Celibacy is a sign of this new life to the service of which the Church's minister is consecrated; accepted with a joyous heart celibacy radiantly proclaims the Reign of God” (No. 1579).

In 2007, Benedict XVI clearly confirmed that priestly celibacy continues to remain “obligatory in the Latin tradition.” In the apostolic exhortation “Sacramentum Caritatis,” he wrote, “In continuity with the great ecclesial tradition, I reaffirm the beauty and the importance of a priestly life lived in celibacy as a sign expressing total and exclusive devotion to Christ, to the Church and to the Kingdom of God.”

At the end of the Year for Priests, in June 2010, the Pope once again took up the topic of celibacy, calling it “a definitive ‘yes’” to life and love. The Pontiff framed his comments within the context of a culture that finds it “fashionable” to not marry.

“This not marrying is something totally, fundamentally different from celibacy,” he said, “because not marrying is based on the will to live alone for oneself, not to accept a definitive bond, ... whereas celibacy is precisely the opposite: it is a definitive ‘yes,’ it is letting oneself be taken by God by the hand, giving oneself into the hands of the Lord.”

The Holy Father reflected on the unity between the priest and Christ, which implies “that we are ‘drawn’ also into his reality of the Risen One, we go forward toward the full life of the resurrection,” that is, into the future life.

“In this sense, celibacy is an anticipation,” he said, “We transcend this time and go forward, and thus we ‘draw’ ourselves and our time toward the world of the Resurrection, toward the novelty of Christ, toward the new and true life.”

“Celibacy,” he concluded, “is a great sign of faith, of God's presence in the world. Let us pray to the Lord to ... render present the great scandal of our faith.”