Seminarian: Celibacy is a charism, not a duty
The other day I was talking to a seminarian from the developing world, someone who'll soon have to undergo a bunch of psychological inquiries as part of the apostolic visitation/pointless gay hunt. The rights of gays in the church came up, and he pointed out that in the context of religious orders, celibacy is spoken of as a gift or charism which only some have: it constitutes a calling insofar as we're all called to use the gifts we're given. "Requiring [gays] to be celibate," he said, "is forcing them to do something they don't have the gift for." When you've gladly chosen to remain celibate in a way you think God will help you to do because you've chosen to commit yourself to community life, it must be hard to see your choice imposed like a punishment on people who don't choose it and won't respect it. The worse and more deeply personal version of the composer teaching piano to truculent kids with tin ears.
posted by Theologienne @ 12:45 AM
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3 Comments:
Danger, Will Robinson. Even if gays (all gays? c'mon now) don't have the "gift of celibacy," that doesn't change the morality of the situation. If celibacy is good, than it's good whether it comes "naturally" or not. And saying they don't have the gift for celibacy seems tantamount to saying they don't choose and can't control their actions.
And couldn't you say all the same things about people and sin, rather than this specific case?
I think you're confusing celibacy with continence. We are all called to continence (chastity, under a less PC name), which is living with one's sexuality fully and respectfully integrated into one's life (the less PC understanding of chastity as "virgin until marriage and faithful thereafter" is meant to witness to this integrated state.) The church understands celibacy as something different and special: a celibate person chooses to commit the energy and love that might have gone toward fostering a sexual relationship and a family entirely to the service of God and of the whole world. Celibacy is a vow, not a transitional state. A person who happens to be single and hopes not to stay that way should be continent, but they shouldn't call themselves celibate, although the snarkier Catholic ones often do.
My friend wasn't saying that gays somehow lack the capacity for continence, or even that no gay people have the charism of celibacy. He was saying that the lifelong abstention from sexual relationships that the Church wants gays to adhere to tries to force the practice of celibacy onto some people who are not called to it. We are lucky that some people are called to minister through music, but if every Catholic were forced to cantor without concern for natural gifts, the quality and the reputation of music ministry would inevitably suffer.
Ah, much clearer, thank you. I thought your friend was referring only to gay seminarians/priests/other religious. It does seem like there's a bit of a tensions between the idea of celibacy as a vow and as a charism even there, though.
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