“Out of the mouths of babes . . . and dissident priests.” Or something like that.
I never thought I would find Fr. Richard P. McBrien giving a coherent argument in favor of priestly celibacy, but he has, right in the pages of The National Catholic Reporter. In fairness I should note that his intention was quite the opposite, but his argument against celibacy in fact amounts to an argument in favor of it.
Fr. McBrien refers to a lay Catholic’s proposal that “celibacy for Catholic clergy is fundamentally incorrect from a genetic perspective.” After all, “Catholic clergy are and have been, on average, above-average individuals.” By not having children they have lowered “the quality of the Catholic gene pool.” Think of the hundreds of thousands of smart people who never were born because priests couldn’t marry! Think of all the good these people could have done for the Church and for the world!
This proposal, notes Fr. McBrien, “lacks only examples to illustrate and strengthen the argument. I will supply some here.” This is where it gets interesting.
“One thinks of the sons and daughters of successful politicians who have pursued productive political careers of their own.” He notes that Vice President Al Gore is the son of former Senator Albert Gore Sr. Two younger Kennedys, Joseph and Patrick, serve in Congress. George Bush’s son George Jr. is governor of Texas, while another son, Jeb, nearly became governor of Florida. Edmund G. (Pat) Brown saw his son, Jerry, become, like him, governor of California, while his daughter, Kathleen, later ran unsuccessfully for the office. Evan Bayh, the governor of Indiana, is the son of former Senator Birch Bayh. Former Senator Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas is the daughter of presidential candidate Alf Landon.
Likewise in the entertainment world. Kirk Douglas gave us Michael Douglas. Martin Sheen gave us Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez, and Ramon Estevez. Lloyd Bridges produced Beau and Jeff Bridges. Carl Reiner sired Rob Reiner. From Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh came Jamie Lee Curtis.
In religion, Russian Orthodox priest-theologian Alexander Schmemann gave us Serge Schmemann, a writer for The New York Times. Martin Marty, “the foremost Protestant scholar-minister in America,” has a son is a state senator in Minnesota.
Look at these genealogies. I hope it is not impolitic to note that in each case we see a decline in political wisdom, artistic attainment, or scholarship. Is “Governor Moonbeam” an advance on his father? Is pro-abortion Nancy Kassebaum a wiser politician than her gubernatorial father? Is the actor who got his start on “The Streets of San Francisco” a better man than Spartacus?
Fr. McBrien’s argument against priestly celibacy reduces to an argument against the upward evolution of the species. The obvious conclusion: To improve the gene pool, more politicians, actors, and religious scholars should become celibate priests.