Just what in the world were they thinking? The Catholic Church, from the time of its conception, decided that only men could be priests. They also decided that those men could not have sex with women, since they were now married to the church. They were expected to be faithful in that marriage, which in practical terms meant that they were expected to be celibate. They were expected to devote all their time and attention, all their desires, all their urges, all their fantasies, to meet the needs of their church and their parishioners. Since meeting the needs of the Lord has to be the most blissful occupation that any one person could have, sex was not only not needed, but out of the question. Jesus the Christ, the Lord of all being, and the Holy Spirit, who guided everyone everywhere, demanded all of their attention. Any devotion to any other person on earth, and specifically a woman, was not going to be serving the mission of the church. Women and children are not only great distractions but also tremendous burdens. That would interfere with the work of the priest, who was there to be always available as an intermediary for the people to reach God through him. Serving the needs of the church, and serving the needs of the Lord, had to be more important than any human drive or desire any man could have. For those who wished to have a devoted priesthood and a strong Catholic Church, there was no other answer. Priest, yes. Sex, no. How could this represent any problem in the game of life?
The Emperor Constantine, himself a convert to the Christian religion, had become alarmed at the whirlwind of discussions and arguments going on in the Christian community. Some said that Jesus was a human who lived an exemplary life, setting an example for us all to follow. Some said that Jesus was a human, who by his actions in life had elevated himself to divinity. That life and those examples allowed those of us remaining here on earth, if we followed his examples, to also reach divinity. Some said that he was more than a human from the onset, serving as an emissary from God. Some said that Jesus was not just an emissary, but somehow a part of God himself. Some said that there was an all-pervasive Godly force in the world that Jesus was somehow a part of and manifestation thereof. Some worshipped Mary the mother and Mary Magdalene more than they worshipped Jesus or God. Constantine had enough of it. Constantine wanted a unified Church to serve as the religious instrument of his unified empire. He commanded the Bishops of the Christian church to convene in Nicea in 325 BC, and make up their minds just exactly what the beliefs of the Christian Church were, and then stick to them, for fear of punishment. After prolonged acrimonious discussion, the most conservative and forceful of those Bishops won the arguments. Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit were all part of one and the same thing. The foolish Trinity was born. The early Christian Church had been ecumenical, welcoming women, slaves and the poor as members. It fostered direct communication with their God through mysticism and prayer. That religion was now dead. Those devotees of this belief system could now only reach God through their priestly intermediaries.
Well, now, it has been almost seventeen centuries since this edict was formed. What is the score in the game of life with this batter who has assumed this stance? Here’s the first pitch: Access to God can be only obtained through the priest. Strike One. Religion is of little value if you have to ask someone else’s permission to practice it. Those religious experiences that are the most life changing are those when the devotee experiences the feeling of union with the Divine. Humility and Grace are achieved when the petitioner feels the direct hand of God guiding his or her life. Seeking support and comfort through intermediaries is stultifying. Access to God should be an open road, and not a high-priced tollway.
Here’s the second pitch: Only men can be priests. Strike two. The remnants of a patriarchal Jewish tribal society are evident. It sure is a lot more than that, however. Male chauvinist dominance was in full force. The priests found the worship of Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene highly distasteful. They wanted nothing to come in their way of becoming the admission gate to the Divine. If you wanted intercession from God, you had to come through them, and you had to pay. In their minds, women were inferior products of God’s kingdom. This subjugation and denigration of women in the Christian Church has persisted since. Men are the masters and women are the slaves. The result has been seventeen centuries of female torture, which is still present today. Catholic and Episcopalian priests are having epileptic fits over the suggestion that women deserve the right to be priests as much as any man. Their bigotry is flagrantly evident.
Here comes the third pitch: No priest can have sex with any woman. Strike three, swinging. It is difficult to make any decision more stupid than this. About the only way it could have worked would be to demand that, as a part of their priestly vows, all clerics would have to undergo castration. Men and women are sexual animals. They are driven to have sexual activity. If there are not normal outlets for those sexual urges, they will find other outlets. Wet dreams are a terribly frustrating outlet for sexual desire. Masturbation and pedophilia become rampant in those denied the normal relief of sexual urges. Demanding that no priest have any kind of sexual expression denies normal hormones and male physiology. This demand attracts effeminate men to this calling, and creates a priesthood which cannot relate to and does not understand the family problems of those that they serve.
Here comes the argument with the umpire. Ejected from the game.The Bishops, Prelates and Pope, who are supposed to be highly moral humans, know that this abuse is going on in dioceses’ around the world, but deny that this abuse exists and do nothing about it. They are more interested in protecting their positions of importance than they are concerned about serving the moral and ethical needs of their people. They allow this emotional destruction of human maturity to continue rampant in parish after parish, around the world. They have their selfish heads stuck in the sand. They have more interest in serving their mythical God and their own pockets than they do serving the people who come to them as supplicants.
If the Catholic Church is not willing to foster direct religious experience with the Divine without priestly interference, is not willing to accept women as the equals of men, is not willing to accept normal human sexuality, and refuses to openly admit all priest abuse, we will be better off without this saprophytic social disorder.