This archive report was first published on 15 December 2019.
Published on December 15, 2019, by Makau Mutua, a SUNY Distinguished Professor at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of KHRC.
Established religions, including Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, involve both individual conscience and community identity. Public authorities in democracies generally permit religions to establish their own internal rules, but not all internal religious rules are godly or moral.
The Catholic Church's refusal to ordain women and allow priests to marry is a contentious issue that has sparked debate among its followers. The Church's stance on celibacy is rooted in a millennia-old practice that has been adhered to, but not always. Many of the Apostles of Jesus were married, and St Peter, the first Pope, was also married.
However, it was only in the 11th century that Pope Gregory VII issued a decree requiring all priests to be celibate and unmarried. This rule has been strictly enforced, but many priests have engaged in sexual relations with women and men throughout history. Today, many priests are guilty of sexual predations, and the current scourge of paedophile priests poses an existential threat to the Church.
Despite the rule on celibacy, the Catholic Church has allowed married men to serve as priests in certain circumstances. In the Eastern Catholic Church, married men serve as Catholic priests, and married Anglican priests who came into Catholicism also serve as full Catholic priests.
The call by the Amazon bishops to allow married men to become priests is not out of left field. The shortage of priests in the Amazon is acute, and allowing priests to marry could alleviate this problem. Pope Francis has signaled an opening in special cases, but it's doubtful that he will go beyond a marginal relaxation of the rules requiring celibacy.
The refusal to ordain women into the Catholic priesthood is also indefensible. There is no biblical or scriptural authority barring the ordination of women. In 1994, Pope John Paul II declared that the Church has no authority to confer priestly ordination on women, but he failed to quote any biblical authority.
Let's separate man-made religious law from holy text. Canonical law are rules made by ecclesiastical authority, or Church leadership, for the governance of the flock. It shouldn't be confused with the Bible. Using canonical law to deny penitents basic rights of equality can't stand scrutiny.
