"The Gregorian reformers said that priests should not get married, as Catholics still say today........
FOR CENTURIES, most priests had had wives and children and many were themselves sons of priests.............
When one "reforming" Archbishop held a meeting of his clergy and told them to give up their wives, he was answered by a hail of stones. [IN ENGLAND!]
By 1300 it was unusual to find to find a married priest in England, Wales, Scotland and the part of Ireland ruled by the English.
Only in Irish Ireland were many of the clergy still family men."
Chapter 10 - "A New Church and Society"
P.106 - "THE YOUNG OXFORD HISTORY OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND."
Poignant that only a children's history book points out quite so plainly the simple truth.
And AN ASTOUNDING IRONY OF HISTORY given the sad situation now - where Ireland in its BENIGHTED IGNORANCE of its own history suffers kiddyfiddling priests!
Ireland that was not under English rule at this time - 1300 - was under the influence still of pre-Austininian Romano-Celtic Christianity as much as Latin Christianity.
Compulsory Clerical Celibacy was a teaching of NEITHER FORM ANYWAY!
This teaching came SADLY and erroneously to be ENFORCED around the year 1300 in the British Isles and all across Western Europe.
In honour of Dermott Morgan (R.I.P.)
Clerical CELIBACY is NOT A CHRISTIAN TEACHING.
=================================
The "part of Ireland ruled by the English" referred to above was in that Medieval Period - unlike now - the eastern central part around Dublin.
The Mission of Augustine to Canterbury was sent by Pope St. Gregory I the Great.
It needs to be said that this Pope - who contributed importantly to preventing
the "Dark Ages" from becoming the "Completely Pitch Black" Ages - did encourage celibacy for priests.
So the mission of AUGUSTINUS - the First Archbishop of Canterbury - to Canterbury in 595 A.D. was highly likely to have been far more celibacy-minded than the Celtic Romano-British Christianity that had preceded it in Britain.
Celibacy was seen perhaps as a mark of more restrained and hence more civilized life during the Barbarian incursions.
Also it symbolized the NON-ATTACHMENT to the world and worldly things that is a part of Christianity.
In this sense - that you do not need anything but God - Christianity is of course sympathetic to celibacy.
It needs to be said that at this time CELIBACY was predominantly VOLUNTARY.
...................................
FOR CENTURIES, most priests had had wives and children and many were themselves sons of priests.............
When one "reforming" Archbishop held a meeting of his clergy and told them to give up their wives, he was answered by a hail of stones. [IN ENGLAND!]
By 1300 it was unusual to find to find a married priest in England, Wales, Scotland and the part of Ireland ruled by the English.
Only in Irish Ireland were many of the clergy still family men."
Chapter 10 - "A New Church and Society"
P.106 - "THE YOUNG OXFORD HISTORY OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND."
Poignant that only a children's history book points out quite so plainly the simple truth.
And AN ASTOUNDING IRONY OF HISTORY given the sad situation now - where Ireland in its BENIGHTED IGNORANCE of its own history suffers kiddyfiddling priests!
Ireland that was not under English rule at this time - 1300 - was under the influence still of pre-Austininian Romano-Celtic Christianity as much as Latin Christianity.
Compulsory Clerical Celibacy was a teaching of NEITHER FORM ANYWAY!
This teaching came SADLY and erroneously to be ENFORCED around the year 1300 in the British Isles and all across Western Europe.
In honour of Dermott Morgan (R.I.P.)
Clerical CELIBACY is NOT A CHRISTIAN TEACHING.
=================================
The "part of Ireland ruled by the English" referred to above was in that Medieval Period - unlike now - the eastern central part around Dublin.
The Mission of Augustine to Canterbury was sent by Pope St. Gregory I the Great.
It needs to be said that this Pope - who contributed importantly to preventing
the "Dark Ages" from becoming the "Completely Pitch Black" Ages - did encourage celibacy for priests.
So the mission of AUGUSTINUS - the First Archbishop of Canterbury - to Canterbury in 595 A.D. was highly likely to have been far more celibacy-minded than the Celtic Romano-British Christianity that had preceded it in Britain.
Celibacy was seen perhaps as a mark of more restrained and hence more civilized life during the Barbarian incursions.
Also it symbolized the NON-ATTACHMENT to the world and worldly things that is a part of Christianity.
In this sense - that you do not need anything but God - Christianity is of course sympathetic to celibacy.
It needs to be said that at this time CELIBACY was predominantly VOLUNTARY.
...................................