Background
For many years of the Church's history, celibacy was considered optional. Based on the customs of the times, it is assumed by many that like Peter, most of the Apostles were married and had families. It is clear from the New Testament (Mk 1:29-31; Mt 8:14-15; Lk 4:38-39; 1 Tim 3:2, 12; Tit 1:6) that at least the Apostle Peter had been married, and that bishops, presbyters and deacons of the Primitive Church were often family men. It is also clear from epigraphy, the testimony of the Fathers, synodal legislation, papal decretals and other sources that in the following centuries, a married clergy, in greater or lesser numbers, was a normal feature of the life of the Church.
Since the Middle Ages, the Latin (Western) rite of the Catholic Church has accepted priests and bishops only after they have taken vows of celibacy. Previously, celibacy was not absolutely required for those ordained, but still was a discipline practiced in the early Church. Mandatory celibacy was enforced because there was so much political and economic power attached to the papacy. The Church therefore adopted celibacy as a matter of discipline, not as a matter of doctrine. In this context, celibate is not synonymous with sexually abstinent; it means not married and only entails sexual abstinence because a different Catholic doctrine requires sexual abstinence outside marriage.
The discipline of priestly celibacy is not considered one of the infallible immutable dogmas. The Council of Trent held that virginity and celibacy were higher states than marriage but, more recently, popes have acknowledged the gift and graces of both married and celibate states. In his Theology of the Body reflections July 7, 1983, Pope John Paul II said "The gift received by persons who live in marriage is different from the one received by persons who live in virginity and choose continence for the sake of the kingdom of God. All the same, it is a true gift from God, one's own gift, intended for concrete persons. It is specific, that is, suited to their vocation in life. We can therefore say that the Apostle stresses also the action of grace in every person—in one who lives in marriage no less than in one that willingly chooses continence."
Read more about this topic: List Of Sexually Active Popes
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