First Century
Peter, the first pope, and the apostles that Jesus chose were, for the most
part, married men. The New Testament implies that women presided at eucharistic
meals in the early church.
Second and Third Century
Age of Gnosticism: light and spirit are good, darkness and material things are
evil. A person cannot be married and be perfect. However, most priests were
married.
Fourth Century
306 - Council of Elvira, Spain, decree #43: a priest who sleeps with
his wife the night before Mass will lose his job.
325 - Council of Nicea: decreed that after ordination a priest could
not marry. Proclaimed the Nicene Creed.
352 - Council of Laodicea: women are not to be ordained. This suggests
that before this time there was ordination of women.
385 - Pope Siricius left his wife in order to become pope. Decreed that
priests may no longer sleep with their wives.
Fifth Century
401 - St. Augustine wrote, �Nothing is so powerful in drawing the spirit
of a man downwards as the caresses of a woman.�
Sixth Century
567 - 2nd Council of Tours: any cleric found in bed with his wife would
be excommunicated for a year and reduced to the lay state.
580 - Pope Pelagius II: his policy was not to bother married priests
as long as they did not hand over church property to wives or children.
590-604 - Pope Gregory �the Great� said that all sexual desire is sinful
in itself (meaning that sexual desire is intrinsically evil?).
Seventh Century
France: documents show that the majority of priest were married.
Eighth Century
St. Boniface reported to the pope that in Germany almost no bishop or priest
was celibate.
Ninth Century
836 - Council of Aix-la-Chapelle openly admitted that abortions and infanticide
took place in convents and monasteries to cover up activities of uncelibate
clerics.
St. Ulrich, a holy bishop, argued from scripture and common sense that the only
way to purify the church from the worst excesses of celibacy was to permit priests
to marry.
Eleventh Century
1045 - Pope Boniface IX dispensed himself from celibacy and resigned
in order to marry.
1074 - Pope Gregory VII said anyone to be ordained must first pledge
celibacy: �priests [must] first escape from the clutches of their wives.�
1095 - Pope Urban II had priests� wives sold into slavery, children were
abandoned.
Twelfth Century
1123 - Pope Calistus II: First Lateran Council decreed that clerical
marriages were invalid.
1139 - Pope Innocent II: Second Lateran Council confirmed the previous
council�s decree.
Fourteenth Century
Bishop Pelagio complains that women are still ordained and hearing confessions.
Fifteenth Century
Transition; 50% of priests are married and accepted by the people.
Sixteenth Century
1545-63 - Council of Trent states that celibacy and virginity are superior
to marriage.
1517 - Martin Luther.
1530 - Henry VIII.
Seventeenth Century
Inquisition. Galileo. Newton.
Eighteenth Century
1776 - American Declaration of Independence.
1789 - French Revolution.
Nineteenth Century
1804 - Napoleon.
1882 - Darwin.
1847 - Marx, Communist Manifesto.
1858 - Freud.
1869 - First Vatican Council; infallibility of pope.
Twentieth Century
1930 - Pope Pius XI: sex can be good and holy.
1951 - Pope Pius XII: married Lutheran pastor ordained catholic priest
in Germany.
1962 - Pope John XXIII: Vatican Council II; vernacular; marriage is equal
to virginity.
1966 - Pope Paul VI: celibacy dispensations.
1970s - Ludmilla Javorova and several other Czech women ordained to serve
needs of women imprisoned by Communists.
1978 - Pope John Paul II: puts a freeze on dispensations.
1983 - New Canon Law.
1980 - Married Anglican/Episcopal pastors are ordained as catholic priests
in the U.S.; also in Canada and England in 1994.
Popes who were married
St. Peter, Apostle
St. Felix III 483-492 (2 children)
St. Hormidas 514-523 (1 son)
St. Silverus (Antonia) 536-537
Hadrian II 867-872 (1 daughter)
Clement IV 1265-1268 (2 daughters)
Felix V 1439-1449 (1 son)
Popes who were the sons of other popes, other clergy
Name of Pope | Papacy | Son of |
St. Damascus I | 366-348 | St. Lorenzo, priest |
St. Innocent I | 401-417 | Anastasius I |
Boniface | 418-422 | son of a priest |
St. Felix | 483-492 | son of a priest |
Anastasius II | 496-498 | son of a priest |
St. Agapitus I | 535-536 | Gordiaous, priest |
St. Silverus | 536-537 | St. Homidas, pope |
Deusdedit | 882-884 | son of a priest |
Boniface VI | 896-896 | Hadrian, bishop |
John XI | 931-935 | Pope Sergius III |
John XV | 989-996 | Leo, priest |
Popes who had illegitimate children after 1139
Innocent VIII | 1484-1492 | several children |
Alexander VI | 1492-1503 | several children |
Julius | 1503-1513 | 3 daughters |
Paul III | 1534-1549 | 3 sons, 1 daughter |
Pius IV | 1559-1565 | 3 sons |
Gregory XIII | 1572-1585 | 1 son |
History sources:
Oxford Dictionary of Popes; H.C. Lea History of Sacerdotal Celibacy in the Christian
Church 1957; E. Schillebeeckx The Church with a Human Face 1985; J. McSorley
Outline History of the Church by Centuries 1957; F.A.Foy (Ed.) 1990 Catholic
Almanac 1989; D.L. Carmody The Double Cross - Ordination, Abortion and Catholic
Feminism 1986; P.K. Jewtt The Ordination of Women 1980; A.F. Ide God's Girls
- Ordination of Women in the Early Christian & Gnostic Churches 1986; E.
Sch�ssler Fiorenza In Memory of Her 1984; P. DeRosa Vicars of Christ 1988.
Myths and Facts
Myth: All priests take a vow of celibacy.
Fact: Most priests do not take a vow. It is a promise made before the
bishop.
Myth: Celibacy is not the reason for the vocation shortage.
Fact: A 1983 survey of Protestant churches shows a surplus of clergy;
the Catholic church alone has a shortage.
Myth: Clerical celibacy has been the norm since the Second Lateran Council
in 1139.
Fact: Priests and even popes still continued to marry and have children
for several hundred years after that date. In fact, the Eastern Catholic Church
still has married priests.
In the Latin Church, one may be a married priest if:
Myth: The vocation shortage is due to materialism and lack of faith.
Fact: Research (1985 Lilly endowment): �there is no evidence to support
loss of faith for less vocations...youth volunteer and campus ministry is rising.�
We believe that priests should be allowed to marry and that women have an equal right to have their call to ordination tested along with male candidates. We believe celibacy is a gift of the Spirit, as is the call to marriage and the single life. Gifts cannot be mandated, so it is from a deep respect for the gift of celibacy that we request that it be made optional and not forced upon those who do not feel called in this way.
originally developed by Corpus Canada
revision jointly sponsored by Call To Action and FutureChurch