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| Called and Chosen: the Celibate Vocation
Another important dimension of celibate
chastity is spiritual fatherhood. Every man should experience the call
within his heart the call to be a father. This is no less true of a
man becoming a priest. The young man becoming a priest accepts Christ’s
invitation to care for His Bride, the Church. The priest stands in the
place of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church, so his “marriage”
is not to this or that member of the laity, but to the Church as a whole.
To his flock the priest is not husband, but father. This is the reason
why we can call a priest “father” because he is a spiritual
father to the people of God. Priestly celibacy in patristics and in the history of the Church Priestly celibacy: Sign of the charity of Christ (By Mother Theresa) Training for priestly celibacy The relevance of priestly celibacy today Celibacy: Fidelity to one’s priestly identity The Theology of the Body on Celibacy (off-site) |