04/26/2005: "The celebate priesthood"
I don't know if I've mentioned on this blog that I've had a strong desire to write a book, any book, for a long time. Something about the process of delineating a extremely detailed set of thoughts in writing has always seemed enticing to me. I've made a number of attempts:
When I was an atheist I started writing a novel about a disenfranchised engineer who had his successful startup company ripped away from him and lost his family (through divorce) in the process. It was a VERY dark book, a tragedy of epic proportions.
I'm currently in a VERY long process of writing a somewhat autobiographical book based around some themes in a folk music artist's music. I've finished 5 chapters of 12 or so over the last 4 years. I want to get the transcript in its current state to the artist before continuing so I haven't written anything in the last year or so.
I've also recently thought of writing a book around the same theme as 'Earth Abides' (the aftermath of humanity being nearly wiped out by a plague) but written from a Catholic perspective. I'm just not sure how to do so without doing one of two things: Making the hero a bishop (and I want it to be about lay people) or without violating Catholic doctrine regarding the apocalypse.
A couple years ago I started on a non-fiction book about the issues that divide Catholics and Protestants and what I believe to be the underpinnings of those differences. The point was to show that most of our differences, with a couple of notable examples, are more issues of emphasis than theological differences. It was supposed to be mostly ecumenical in nature.
As a final example, I've thought of extending the article I'm planning on writing on the myths of the 20th century into a book.
In any case, I bet you're wondering what this all has to do with the title of the post. Well, a rabbi wrote an article about why he thinks the Catholic Church needs to do away with mandatory celibacy. It is a very charitably written article by a man who clearly has a great deal of respect for the Church.
That said, it seems to me that a book needs to be written defending the celibate priesthood. I'm sure there are many theologically heavy works on the subject, but I'm thinking of a book with a popular emphasis. I suspect it would need to have a fair amount of history in it as well as a fair amount of content on what exactly the benefits of it are both traditionally and currently. Finally, it would need to address a number of the concerns people have about it.
Expect a couple of posts in the next few days about why I think the celibate priesthood is an important aspect of the Catholic faith and should not be abandoned if at all possible.
