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standing of nations across the globe. Africa and other parts of Asia are associated with poverty and hunger; while Europe and America are the epitome of perfect economic living. But when priests from these parts of the world gather together in Rome to renew their commitment, a perfect union of diverse economic and cultural origins is born.

It is true (and I witness it myself) that abuses inside the Church do exist. They said that one of the primary solutions to end the abuses from within or even outside the Church is by allowing priests to marry. If this is a logical solution, the Church might have long ago allowed priests to marry, without us arguing this issue right now. Sadly though, this is not a solution since allowing priests to marry is only to aggravate the abuses of many forms. We know from time immemorial that the Catholic Church is run uninterruptedly by a hierarchy of men and men alone, from St. Peter the Apostle down to Benedict XVI in our time. The power of the Church is distributed among these men all over the world. To maintain obedience and loyalty of men of various principles and personalities all over the world without violating their innate freedom is an extraordinary achievement, again, unique to Catholic priests alone. If they are allowed to marry, a worldwide disintegration of the sacred image of priesthood is a dangerous effect, knowing that the family concerns (if they are married) are of paramount importance or even far more urgent than the duties of the workplace.

Upon ordination, the candidate to the priesthood declares publicly his promise of obedience to his bishop or to his boss, so to speak, and to his boss' successor. This promise of obedience expands from the moment he is ordained until the moment of his death, for he is a priest forever. This is to ensure that service to God though the people is fulfilled not only during the day, but basically twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, because he is a servant. Priesthood is seemingly a selfish profession, aimed at glorifying oneself and the Church. But first and foremost, priesthood is not a profession; it is a vocation. God called men to serve him through his people. When priests are permitted to marry, there is an obvious confusion on the part of the priest in matters of loyalty and service, his family or his Church.

A litany of reasons can be written why priests should not be permitted to marry, but suffice it to say that my final argument is to rebut the claims of the proponents of married priesthood. Mostly, if not all, of the advocates of the married priesthood (those who say that priests should marry) are themselves priests who left the ministry to marry. It is amazing to realize that after having been educated about the essence of priesthood (that they will live a celibate life for the rest of their lives) and after turning their back on the priesthood by getting married, now they want to turn the table around to suit their demands. If this is the ultimate reason why priests should be permitted to marry (so that ex-priests can also freely exercise their ministry), then this is nothing but a mockery of the sacred image of priesthood.

Learn more about this author, Rodolfo N. Lentejas, Jr..
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