"The Strange Notion of 'Gay Celibacy'”

Daniel Mattson, "The Strange Notion of 'Gay Celibacy'” (Crisis, January 26, 2015). For the record.

[Hat tip to JM]

For the record: No link between celibacy and clerical sexual abuse

William Oddie, "There is No Link between Celibacy and Clerical Sexual Abuse" (Crisis Magazine, December 30, 2014)

"Vincentian Canon and Unanimous Consent of the Fathers"

Always worth reading, Boniface has a fine analysis of "Vincentian Canon and Unanimous Consent of the Fathers" (Unam Sanctam Catholicam). Cardinal Newman's Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, which was in part provoked by the challenges posed by the 17th century Protestant divine, William Chillingworth's argument that the Catholic claim of "unanimous consent of the fathers" is a mere illusion. Newman's Essay, he shows, may be regarded in a sense as nothing other than an elaboration of the principles of the Vincentian Canon, "Quod Ubique, Quod Semper, Quod ab Omnibus" -- namely, that the Catholic Faith consists in that which has been believed "everywhere, always, and by all."

What is particularly interesting in this post is how the author brings to bear in his analysis the ingenious application of five criteria for applying the Vincentian Canon formulated by Fr. Christian Cochini in his masterful study of clerical celibacy, Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy(Ignatius Press, 1990), which he applies particularly to the Catholicity of Church teaching on clerical celibacy. These criteria include that a point of doctrine or discipline can be said to be kept by the whole Church at a given time in history if (1) the majority of those invested with the moral and intellectual authority of the Church during that age share the same opinions about it; (2) it is kept by the Apostolic Churches; (3) kept by all the bishops as expressed in their corporate judgments; (4) between that time and the Apostolic age there is no decision coming from any authorized hierarchical authority attesting to the existence of a contrary belief or practice; and (5) during the same time the point in question was never contested in the name of a contrary tradition by any of the apostolic churches.

Of course, these points are each expanded upon in the article.

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"The Truth About Priestly Continence and Celibacy in the Early Church"

"The Truth About Priestly Continence and Celibacy in the Early Church" (Unam Sanctam Catholicam), another thoroughgoing treatment such as we've come to expect from Boniface.

[Hat tip to L.S.]

"Beware: Non-Celibates Writing about Celibacy"

James Martin, S.J., with an actually decent piece (America, Dec. 2, 2013).

[Hat tip to JM]

Contraceptive culture denatures the meaning of celibacy

Fr. Dwight Longenecker, "Contraception and Celibacy" (Patheos, March 7, 2013) -- an excerpt:

Artificial contraception has made sex into recreation rather than pro creation, and marriage has therefore changed it’s meaning. Marriage is intended to be a sacrament of self sacrifice. Now for the majority of Americans it is a sacrament of self gratification. Consequently, celibacy has also lost its meaning. Celibacy only has meaning when you understand marriage. Marriage is a life long commitment within which two people grow into the maturity of love and (ideally) do so within the natural dynamic of a large and loving family. Celibacy reflects that love when the celibate person sacrifices marital love and family love to make their own life long commitment to the greater love of God and others.

[Hat tip to Janet Smith]