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| Pope Benedict XVI |
Pope
Benedict XVI, who is infallible on religious matters, has apparently made a
mistake in the literary world. He caused
outrage by telling the faithful in his recently published book that there were
no angels at the birth of Jesus and no animals.
After all, people enjoy their myths.
One headline screamed, “Pope Bans Christmas.” No, he didn’t. He just tried to make it more realistic. That didn’t sit well with the average Roman
Catholic. They don’t want the
truth.
On
the other hand, while defending his historical views of Christmas, Benedict has
refused to tolerate challenges to the Church.
He
has his priorities backwards.
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| Fr. Schueller |
A priest in Austria
felt the hard hand of the pope after daring to suggest that current Catholic teachings on celibacy and women priests could be changed. Father Helmut Schueller (left) lost the right
to use title monsignor and could not be identified as a "Chaplain of His
Holiness,” although he remained a priest. A
former deputy to Vienna's archbishop, Schueller
had been given the honorary title while leading a local Catholic charity.
It could have been worse. In 2010, an American priest was defrocked
after being stopped by Italian police while trying to deliver a petition to the
Vatican in favor of a female priesthood.
Even that was mild
considering the alternative.
The New York Times reported, “In 2008, the
Vatican decreed that any woman who sought ordination, or a bishop who conferred
holy orders on her, would be immediately ‘punished with excommunication.’ It
went a step further in 2010, categorizing any such attempt as delicta graviora — a grave crime against
the church — the same category as priests who sexually abuse children.”
Ironically, the two priests
causing the Church such doctrinal headaches were doing nothing more than promoting ideas
that are circulating among Catholics worldwide.
After all, unlike the Christmas fables that Benedict has tried to
vanquish, it has an historical base.
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| Mary Magdelene by Pietro Perugino |
Early Christian priests
were not celibate, and women were active in the church. Mary Magdalene, (left) who the Bible says traveled
with Jesus, may have been one of his apostles.
Paul wrote about another woman in Romans 16: 1-2: “I commend unto you Phebe, our sister, which
is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: [2] That ye receive her
in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business
she hath need of you: for she hath been a succorer of many, and of myself
also.”
In fact, women were ordained priests until the Council of
Laodicea in 352 banned the ceremony.
Still, as late as the 1300s, women were being ordained and hearing
confession, based on a complaint to the practice raised by an Italian bishop of
the time.
As for celibacy: all
the early popes were married, beginning with Peter, Jesus’ lead apostle. That began to change in the 4th
century. For starters, priests in Spain
in 306 were banned from having sex with their wives before mass. That was enhanced by the great Nicene Synod
in 325, the one that decided Jesus was God, which also prohibited priests from
marrying.
They did anyway. In 385, Sircius left his wife to become
pope. He then announced a law
prohibiting priests from any sexual relations with women.
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| Pelagius II |
None of that had much effect. As a result, in 580, Pope Pelagius II (left) said he
wouldn’t bother married priests as long as they didn’t will property to their
family members.
Documents from the seventh century
in France and the eighth century in Germany reveal that few if any priests or
bishops were celibate. In 1045, Pope
Benedict IX resigned to get married. In
the 1500s, research indicates half of priests were married. No one seemed to care.
As a result, celibacy has really
only been enforced in the last few hundred years. The same is true for women priests.
Christian mythology about the birth
of Jesus? That goes on and on.
Benedict, after all, has no time to
worry about actually updating the Church. He’s too
busy erasing time-honored myths about animals from the stable and angels from the sky to care about realities
that have real significance to faithful Catholics.
Long-time
religious historian Bill Lazarus regularly writes about religion and religious
history. He also speaks at various
religious organizations throughout Florida. You can reach him at www.williamplazarus.net. He is the author of the famed Unauthorized
Biography of Nostradamus; The Last Testament of Simon Peter; The Gospel Truth: Where Did the Gospel
Writers Get Their Information; Noel:
The Lore and Tradition of Christmas Carols; and Dummies Guide to Comparative
Religion. His books are available on Amazon.com,
Kindle, bookstores and via various publishers.
He can also be followed on Twitter.
You
can enroll in his on-line class, Comparative Religion for Dummies, at
http://www.udemy.com/comparative-religion-for-dummies/?promote=1
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