Goodbye Father: The Celibate Male Priesthood and the Future of the Catholic Church [Paperback]

Goodbye Father: the Celibate Male Priesthood and the Future of the Catholic Church" by the late sociologist Richard Schoenherr deserves a lot of praise for its brilliant analysis of the priest shortage, present and future. But the real value of the book, in my opinion, is its insistence that the shortage cannot be viewed as some interesting but isolated phenomenon. As David Yamane, who took over the editing of the book after Schoenherrs untimely death, notes in the Introduction, the shortage is only one manifestation of a whole network of interacting trends pressing for change in many directions. Here are the others:
* A decline in dogmatism and a rise in pluralism of world views.
* A demise of the cultural control that developed out of the churchs European and Western origins.
* Doctrinal changes coming out of Vatican II, particularly those that have weakened belief in the absolute superiority of celibacy as a way to holiness.
* The erosion of male control over church ministry, largely due to the feminist movement, especially among nuns and laywomen.
* Increased lay participation in ministerial and sacramental roles.
* A growing recognition of the "saving power" of the Scriptures.

In other words, the book analyzes how all these trends are working together and argues that isolating one or the other and working on it alone is not going to get the church out of the mess it's in. It's a heavy read but I don't see how any thoughtful person can dismiss its overwhelming logic.

Not coming from a Roman Catholic tradition, I've been intrigued by the debate surrounding the celebacy of the priesthood and the male exclusivity of the clergy. After all, other denominations have moved ahead, not without struggle to be sure, but moved nonetheless, to model what it means for all of God's people to have a place at table, and to officiate in the offerings that the table provides.

Richard Schoenherr's "Goodbye Father" provides powerful insights to those of us laypeople who struggle with one's appropriate role in the church, and who are looking for a deeper analysis of this religious tradition.

In his discussion of why dropping celebacy will happen prior to changing the patriarchy of the ministry, Schoenherr defines how the embeddedness of patriarchy, the decline of that partriarchy in other denominations, and the depth of the debate about marital-status exclusivity contributes to his thesis. That discussion provides clues into the struggle the church faces, but also gives hope that the stance on celebacy can change.

That today's issues are now indicative of Schoenherr's predictions demonstrate the wisdom with which the author presents a significant contribution to the role of men and women in the church. This book deserves a read by anyone concerned about those roles, regardless of the denominational background of the reader.

A strong and well honed intellect draws good conclusions only when there is a solid foundation. In the case of this work, and really any other work that advocates ordaining woman and, to a lesser extent lay participation in the governance of the Church and married clergy in the Roman rite, the ground work of possible future schisms is laid. And over what? Interestingly enough, it is often over temporal power, the same thing that the advocates of women ordination and lay governance often claim they are trying to overcome.

In considering "change" in the Catholic Church, a few core immutable truths must be acknowledged in order to come to an appropriate decision.

1) The Catholic Church is a Theocracy, with Jesus Christ as the head and the pope as His representative on earth. She is not a democracy, a republic, a dictatorship, a communist nor a socialist organization.

2) As a Theocracy, with the Jesus Christ, who is perfect truth, as its head, it is to be noted that all truths communicated to humanity either by word or action are perfect in all respects and are, therefore, not subject to error.

Using some of this foundational information, once can conclude that the ordination of women to the ministerial priesthood is a theological impossibility. Meaning, even if a valid bishop lays hands on a woman and says the proper words and has the intent to ordain her a priest, it will not happen. Why? It is simple. All sacraments require form, intent and matter to be administered. For example, in baptism, there is the form (I baptise you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit), the intent (to baptise someone) and the matter (the water and the person being baptised). In a priestly ordination, the form is the words of ordination, then there is the intent on the bishops part to ordain that person a priest and then there is the proper matter in the validly ordained bishop and a male participant.

Why must a priest be male? This goes back to foundational point number 2. Everything Jesus communicates to humanity via word and example is perfect simply because He is God. Therefore, if Jesus only ordains men into the ministerial priesthood, then it is communicated through Jesus's words and example that only men can be ordained as priests. A reading of Ephesians 5:21-33, in conjunction with the foundational understanding that an ordained priest is an "altar Christus", reveals a far deaper meaning to the all male priesthood in light of salvation history.

As to the celibate priesthood, I suspect many here and in the US in general are ignorant of the fact that there are already married priests in the Catholic Church. Most of the eastern rite churches in union with Rome, such as the Melkites, permit a married clergy, specifically marriage before ordination. There are about 22-23 Churches in union with Rome. The largest church in union with Rome is the Latin Rite Church. It is in the Latin Church that there is a longstanding tradition that the ministerial priest be celibate all the better to more perfectly immitate Christ in form and function per the instruction of St. Paul (i.e., it is better to be an enuch for the kingdom of God). That said, as it is a dicipline, the Chuch has granted exceptions in the Latin Church for married Anglican clergy who convert to Catholicism and are ordained priests. Currently there are a little over 100 married priests in the Latin Church.

As to lay governance, one must refer to point number 1. The Church is a Theocracy and should not be confused with other political bodies. Keep that in mind and one can more readily see the limitations on lay governance in the Catholic Church.

God bless