Should Catholic Priests Marry?

“Every adult in Obodo knew about the prophet’s weakness for women. It was a standing joke that any trap set around a woman’s waist would catch him hand, foot and all: he could not survive twenty-four hours without having a woman, and he had scattered his seed like the explosive pods of the oil bean tree. But the people were philosophical about it, especially those men whose wives or daughters had not produced for him. A wise man does not look too critically at the sides of the stream when he goes there for a drink, or he will never drink from the stream. If you go to Prophet James, shut your eyes to what he does with women and take what he tells you about God.

“A dark-skinned girl, whose youth, looks and deliciousness defied the amorphous white robe she wore, walked shyly towards Prophet James.

“‘Sister, the Lord requires you to meet the needs of the flesh,” instructed the prophet. “‘If it is the will of God,’ she replied, her eyes lowered, ‘may the Holy Spirit enter me through you.’ “Prophet led her away into the Inner Room.”

That is how Chukwuemeka Ike ends Chapter Twelve of his spellbinding novel, Sunset at Dawn. He does not say what happens in the Inner Room but unlike Obodo where adults know, even children here in Ghana know the fate of miracle-seeking women, who see their destinies in the prophetic declarations of these “messiahs”. The adults, including men whose wives fall prey to these charlatans called “Men of God”, also know. We just close our eyes and open our ears to their prophecies, especially if they are in our favour.

The Head Pastor of Jesus Blood Ministry at Oblogo in Accra, the Prophet Nana Kwasi Yirenkyi, popularly known as “Jesus One Touch” is currently he is standing trial for allegedly sexually abusing his 10-year old daughter. It is just one of the numerous nasty headlines men and women of God take turns to make in Ghana today. While the court is still deciding to decide whether to convict or acquit him, something bigger is happening elsewhere and is making headlines on all media that matter in the affairs of the world.

It is about the Catholic Church and how some of their pedophilic priests have abused and continue to abuse children. Scandals involving Catholic priests have been reported in countries, including the Pope's native Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, Ireland and the US.

According information available on the BBC’s website: “At least 14 former pupils at the Antonio Provolo Institute for the Deaf in the northern city of Verona say they were abused between the 1950s and the 1980s. They complained to local Church authorities as early as 2008.

“Fr. Lawrence Murphy is suspected of abusing some 200 boys at St John's School for the Deaf in St Francis, Wisconsin, between 1950 and 1974.” Deaf children. Without pity. Boys! “Fr. Murphy - who admitted abusing boys before he died in 1998 - is said to have targeted victims in their dormitory beds, on school trips and even at confession.” At “Confession”! Who did he confess to? Nowhere is safe, even in the confession box. Pope Benedict XVI has a lot to do. He himself has come under fire for covering up some of these scandals in some time past before becoming the Pope. But it is not likely he will resign because no pope is known to have resigned in modern times.

But the scandals have reignited the debate as to whether Catholic priests should be allowed to marry or not.

Sex is good for human beings. I don’t think God created the sex organs by mistake. God sanctions sex, when it is done properly. Man and woman, married. It doesn’t defile the body, does it? It is difficult, if not impossible, to abstain forever. One may decide to be celibate till marriage, but this is different from eternal abstention. Our elders say hunger that has hope for its satisfaction does not kill. What about eternal hunger? The Catholic priests’ perpetual hunger? It call kill. If not they, then their victims. At least evidences abound.

One of the reasons usually given for priestly celibacy has been Apostle Paul’s admonition to the people of Corinth concerning sex. “… It is well for a man not to touch a woman. But because of the temptation to immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman his own husband,” (1st Corinthians 7:1-2). Which of these two statements in the above quotation can be considered a command if a decision is to be based on the quotation? Are the various sex scandals not enough testimony that the temptation is now becoming too unbearable for the Catholic priests?

Well, it has now been established that priests and bishops abuse children, including boys. Some children and adults see priests as next to God and will never reveal these abuses. They are sacrosanct, especially in Africa. But the truth cannot be hidden forever. Instead of making it compulsory for priests to take vows of celibacy, which most of them find it impossible to obey; the issue of celibacy should be optional.

When this is done, more qualified people may be attracted into priesthood. But the question is: Will Pope Benedict XVI ever agree to let it go down in history that it was during his reign that priests had their freedom? Freedom from burning desires!

Or are trying to be philosophical about these issues like the People of Obodo? “A wise man does not look too critically at the sides of the stream when he goes there for a drink, or he will never drink from the stream.” What then becomes of the abused children, women and sometimes men?

Credit: Manasseh Azure Awuni [www.maxighana.com] Email: azureachebe2@yahoo.com The writer is the SRC President of the Ghana Institute of Journalism and Press and Information Secretary of the Northern Students’ Union (NSU). To read more of his works, visit www.maxighana.com