by Rodolfo N. Lentejas, Jr.

Created on: May 27, 2008

I spent a massive ten productive years of my young life inside the seminary, hoping that one day I'll fulfill my dream. Despite my family's strong opposition, I left our home when I was 16 to get a degree in classical (Thomistic) philosophy and ultimately a master's degree in theology, all in preparation for the priesthood. Ten years later, however, after a year-long soul searching, I decided to leave for good and forget all about becoming a priest. I left at 26, a year before ordination. I had simple reason why I called it quits: God may not be calling me to the priesthood and I do not want to waste my time, energy and resources living a life of an unhappy priest. I was most free when I decided to dream for it, just as I was most free when decided not to pursue it.

Freedom is the ultimate force that binds the life of a priest. A priest becomes a priest because of freedom and a priest can leave the ministry if he freely chooses to. During the intensive mental, psychological and spiritual training, a candidate to the priesthood is well aware that becoming a priest is all about living a celibate life. Upon reaching ordination, he vows to live a life dedicated to the service of God through his people.

It is in the principle of responsible freedom that I respectfully disagree to the proposal that (Catholic) priests should be permitted to marry. The bureaucratic leadership of the Church, under Pope Benedict XVI, must have been the proper authority to lay down the arguments why priests should not be permitted to marry. But just the same, the Magisterium and the apostolic teachings of the Church are clear that priests in the Latin Church shall live a celibate life.

I believe that priests in the Latin Church should live a celibate life to maintain the rich tradition of the Church. It has been a universal notion from time immemorial until today and until the future that priests are celibates for the sake of the Kingdom of God. This is a universal understanding from across the globe unique to Catholic priests alone, because there are priests in other Christian churches who are actually married. There exists among them (Catholic priests) a universal concept of brotherhood, surpassing the many barriers of race, culture, ethnic origin, economic standing, and many others.

The priesthood is a model of unity. Today the world is confronted with the issue of individualism and collectivism. The secular world is a perfect image of disunity and imbalance. This is seen in the economic

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