STRUCTURES OF CHRISTIAN PRIESTHOOD

by Jean-Paul Audet ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 19, 1968

The battle over compulsory clerical celibacy continues to rage, papal exhortations to the contrary notwithstanding, and Father Audet's book is the latest, but not the last, shot to be fired in that encounter between the old Catholicism and the new Catholics. Audet's approach is quite simple: a married priesthood was not forbidden by Christ; a married priesthood does not impede the priestly functions with respect to the Word and the Eucharist; therefore there is no reason why there should not be a married priesthood. The fact that priests today are not allowed to marry, at least in the Occidental Church, is due to archaic legislation that grew out of an archaic mentality combined with historical and circumstantial expediency. Each point is not only shown to be tenable, but it is sustained by logical argumentation and documentation, so that, at the end, the unbiased reader is compelled to accept Audet's conclusions as well as his premises: ""Mankind as a whole is gradually moving, slowly but inevitably, towards a complete elimination of this spiritual archaism."" This is the most rational and unemotional argument yet to appear for the abolition of mandatory clerical celibacy. It should create something of a sensation within its limited market.

Pub Date: Feb. 19, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1968

Categories: NONFICTION