"Celibacy used to go with priesthood as fish went with Fridays," said the Rev. Donald Cozzens. "Over the past 40 to 50 years, I would argue that more and more Catholics are questioning the need to link celibacy with priesthood."
In "Freeing Celibacy," Cozzens suggests there may be a way through the problem by allowing celibacy as an option but dropping it as a requirement.
Although he is taking on an institution that measures change over centuries, Cozzens - a celibate priest himself - thinks the time is right for a rethinking of celibacy.
He points to the brief stir Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes created last year by saying the
"There are a number of factors that are coming together that really beg for this question to be discussed or urge us to review mandatory celibacy," said Cozzens, interviewed in his office at
There were about 42,000 active priests nationwide in 2005, a 29 percent decline from 1965, according to
"Many, if not most, of the inactive priests would be serving in our parishes if it were not for the law of celibacy," Cozzens writes.
The church discounts celibacy's responsibility for the shortage, saying the increasingly materialistic culture plays a far bigger role.
Pope John Paul II was adamant that the church would not change its celibacy requirement. As recently as November, a
Cozzens has been down this road before, having written four other books on issues and problems of the priesthood. In his 2000 book, "The Changing Face of the Priesthood," later translated into six languages, he used interviews and studies to contend that the Roman Catholic Church had a disproportionately high percentage of gay priests, nearly half of all seminarians and priests.
His previous writings made a valuable contribution to the debate over homosexuality by raising the issue at a time when many priests and bishops were pretending it didn't exist, said the Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, editor of the conservative journal First Things, who upholds the Catholic teaching that same-sex attraction is disordered.
"It was that climate of, 'Let's pretend that we don't know about it,' that Cozzens blew the whistle on in a constructive way," Neuhaus said.
Cozzens distinguishes between what he calls the charism, or gift, of celibacy, which he says is an approach freely chosen by only a few priests and nuns, and celibacy as a requirement.
"I am trying to say to the church, the charism of celibacy needs to be celebrated, the obligation of celibacy needs to be reviewed," he said.
Cozzens teaches religious studies at John Carroll, a Jesuit school. At the time of his 2000 book he was president of St. Mary Seminary in
Celibacy as a universal requirement took hold in the 12th century, but priests and bishops were able to marry during the previous millennium.
The
The church also has about 30,000 deacons worldwide, including about 15,000 in the
Anyone studying to be a priest is aware of the celibacy requirement and should not be surprised by its imposition, said the Rev. Mike Woost, a theology professor at St. Mary Seminary.
Celibacy "is the way we embrace our love of God and our love of God's people," Woost said. "This is the way we try to image to the rest of the world the importance of God's reign in our lives and the life of the world."
But some studies seem to support Cozzens' stand.
A 2002 Catholic University of America study found that 56 percent of priests said celibacy should be optional.
A.W. Richard Sipe, a former Benedictine monk who studies and writes about celibacy, estimates that 50 percent of Catholic clergy are sexually active at any given time. Church leaders have questioned that finding.
Cozzens, 67, a priest for 41 years, says he has been faithful to the celibacy vow. "Celibacy has worked in my life and that is due to the grace of God," he says.
A moment later, however, paraphrasing poet T.S. Eliot, he confesses that, "At times I feel it's cost not less than everything."
