ABSTRACT
The reasons for obligatory celibacy presented in the Directory on the Ministry and Life of Priests are so misleading that they need to be quoted verbatim, so that readers who do not understand Latin and who do not have access to a comprehensive theological library can evaluate the evidence for themselves. If the Roman Curia wishes to base the law of mandatory priestly celibacy on arguments such as those, then presumably they have their own reasons for doing so. Leo the Great is the next authority invoked by the Directory. The only evidence advanced by the Directory is that of concern about cultic purity. Frankly, the Directory is misleading, to put the matter mildly. The Vatican’s Directory represents a very serious misdirection of moral guidance, because it is based upon such faulty reasoning. Least of all can they expect intelligent young men to commit themselves to a lifelong privation on the basis of pagan cultic purity.
