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The survey on priests’ celibacy in Gozo, undertaken recently, is as alarming as it is interesting.
According to media reports, only half of the priests in Gozo ventured to participate in the said survey. Still we ought to thank God for that.
However, the remaining 50 percent of Gozitan priests who chose to remain silent and refrained from participating, in the said survey, just cannot be ignored.
It is, no doubt, no easy task to come to any figure as to how many of these non-participants are other than chaste. Anyway, the fact remains that the number of priests contravening Canon law can only go higher.
The Gozo Curia should be commended for approving such a survey for now we are all quite aware of the serious problems that threaten the priesthood.
All the percentages quoted in the survey point to one direction, and our Bishops have to tackle the matter with the seriousness and with the urgency that the issue demands. Unless rules were truly made to be broken, the Church authorities should not sit back and watch the Establishment lose further ground with the faithful.
Though the Church situation in these islands is far from chaotic, it has become serious enough to warrant early action, and those responsible must shoulder this responsibility, without fear or favour, to prevention further deterioration of the situation.
Clerics should not be permitted to persist in abusing the duties and obligations that the priesthood carries with it. The behaviour of certain priests is just scandalous, to say the least.
Certain clerics’ unbefitting behaviour has long been commented upon, both in the media and elsewhere. The Archbishop’s Curia has to act promptly, and ensure that priests are not only said to be carrying out their vocation in the appropriate manner, but actually seen to be doing so.
It is not enough for members of the clergy to preach morality (whether via the media or from a pulpit) when one’s lifestyle leaves much to be desired. The Church authorities must realise that things are bound to get worse, rather than better due, perhaps, to a lack of the necessary audacity to tackle the matter.
The Archbishop’s Curia should feel obliged to its Gozitan counterpart for endeavouring to bring reality to the fore. The Gozo Curia test is surely a good measure of how bad (if not worse) things could be on the mainland.
What is also interesting is what the Gozo Bishop was quoted to have said when contacted for his reaction to the survey. Particularly, when he stated that in terms of Canon Law, priests must be prudent in their relations with others who may cause them to fall foul of the provision or give rise to scandal. Some members of the clergy are far from observing this section.
The fact that a number of priests have actually put aside their vocation in exchange for a more exciting and remunerative position/career in life, no doubt, contributes, significantly, to the results emanating from the survey.
Somehow or other, the Curia must react to the conclusions of this survey. Haven’t we heard enough stories involving clerics? Aren’t the recent denouncements and the disobeying of the Church Authorities not shocking? Isn’t such behaviour a typical example of arrogance ‘par excellence’?
The Curia has been warned time and again, but seems to have chosen to turn both a deaf ear, and a blind eye to what is said and/or is going on in our midst. To preserve its authority the Curia’s administration should be firm with its members, and appropriately tough with those clerics who, regretfully, are succeeding in getting the upper hand, were their non-observance of the Church rules are concerned. Otherwise, the respect of the faithful can only dwindle further.
How can one sustain its respect towards the clergy, when 9 percent say that they are not observing celibacy, and at least 18 percent of priests admit that they have no control when it comes to celibacy?
How can one sustain respect towards clerics when some 17 percent admit that they are sexually frustrated? How are the faithful expected to identify the good cleric from the bad one, particularly when it comes to submitting themselves to priests for confession/advise?
How can one continue to trust children in the custody/ company of clerics/spiritual directors etc, when there is so much at stake? Only with the serious guidance of the Church’s administration can the faithful sustain their trust in the clergy?
We need not go far to realise the seriousness of the matter. A close look around us would quickly make one realise who the avant-garde clerics are, particularly, those who often operate under cover of their mission/appointments. One could list an endless number of activities, ranging from business meetings in private residences or after normal office hours, to travel abroad. From car rides and country walks to BBQs, and lunching and dining, to shopping sprees. From regular, and frequent telephone communications, to risqué jokes.
Admittedly, the solution is not simple, but definitely the Church authorities have to tackle the unpleasant situation that is disturbing many. It can either consider releasing its members from their celibacy obligations, or else ensure the observance of the Church’s rules and regulations.
I do sympathise with clerics that they have ventured into a very tough vocation, and definitely the question of celibacy only makes matters even tougher. But I cannot accept anybody taking advantage of his status in a community where respect for the clergy (which has been embedded in us from our very childhood) is second to none. Despite the fact that, in recent times, this respect has been falling by the wayside, it is still relatively very strong.
At the end of the day, it was they themselves who chose to become ministers of the Church and hence are public figures (perhaps with even added responsibilities). Like other public figures they are constantly in public eye. They have to be actually seen to be exercising their best behaviour wherever they are.
They should only be grateful that they, unlike married people, are free to leave the priesthood, if they so wish, and seek other more satisfying new (or not so new) pastures elsewhere.
They just can’t have their cake and eat it.
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