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versity, turned up the conclusion
that two thirds of the married
American Catholic women of child–
bearing age do
not
follow their
Church's teaching on birth control.
An article published a year ago in
the Vatican weekly,
L 'Osservatore
Delia Domenica,
stated that a " tre–
mendous earthquake" was rocking
the Church in the United States. It
pointed out the discomforting fre–
quency with which serious break–
down s we re occurring. These
include priests who marry, defecting
nuns, falling financia! support, de–
viations from esta blished doctrine
and incisive criticism of the Church
by Catholic authors, criticism which
is "often graver and more offensive
than even Protestant authors would
dare to make." The article called the
whole state of affairs "a frightening
and distressing picture which no one
would ever have imagined six or
seven years ago."
The IS5ues
The issues that are currently
dividing Catholics include the tradi–
tional Church views on sex, moral–
ity, birtb control, marriage, the role
of women and the distribution of
ecclesiastical power.
Po pe Pa ul's 196 8 encyclical
"Humanae Vitae," upho1ding the
Church's ban on all fami1y planning
methods other than controlled absti–
nence, ignited a keg of controversy.
His adamant stand on the matter
drove the wedges of division deep
into the core of Catholicism. It kin–
dled disagreement and defiance
from both laity and clergy.
Growing numbers of Catholics
want to simply ignore church law
and resort to contraceptives, and
they have the support of an increas–
ing number of priests. As Catholic
theologian Richard P. McBrien
wrote, "On the birth-control issue,
the Pope's present disposition does
not seem to reftect an overriding
consensus in the Church: neither
among theologians nor, more im–
portantly, among sensitive and seri-
10
ous Christian married couples (and
this is a source which no theologian
can ignore)"
(Do We Need The
Church?,
p. 185). Last year, dele–
gates of Swiss Catholic synods
called for a re-examination of the
Church's position in sorne of these
areas. On divo rce and co n–
traception, their statements or rec–
ommendations were not in line with
official Catholic dogma.
Even the women's liberatio n
movement has made its way into the
doctrinal imbrog1io. Pope Paul's de–
cree of last September, supporting
the Catholic tradition of an exclu–
sively male clergy, has become an
added source of irritation in this
sensitive area.
Clerical Unrest
What makes the doctrinal con–
testation and revolt so grave is the
fact that more and more of it is
coming from a sector th at o ne
wou1d expect to constitute the very
backbone of Catholicism - the
priesthood.
In increasing numbers,
priests are expressing their differ–
ences with certain tenets of Catholic
dogma - and are abandoning their
ministries. The first report of its
kind ever issued by the Vatican re–
vealed that 13,440 priests 1eft their
posts in the period from 1964 to
1970. In the year 1970 alone, 3,495
priests resigned.
At the ceoter of the storm batter–
ing the clergy seems to be the cen–
turies-old policy of priestly celibacy.
Various studies show that the pri–
mary motivation for priests leaving
the Church is the desire to marry. lt
should be pointed out, however,
that marriage is often not the sole
motive. Other factors such as diffi–
culties with Church government,
work dissatisfaction, morale prob–
lems and loneliness act in concert
with the celibacy issue as an induce–
ment for resignation.
Even among priests who have no
inclinations toward marriage, many
are in favor of changing the celibacy
law. Over a third of the American
diocesan priests feel that celibacy
should be a matter of
personal
choice
for their particular branch of
the clergy.
In a two-year study carried out
among Engish-speaking priests in
Canada by the Center for Research
in Religious Sociology at Laval Uni–
versity (Quebec City), 53% of the
priests surveyed were in favor of
allowing priests to marry and still
remain in the ministry if they so
choose.
Recruitment Woes
Defection is not the only menace
to the vitality of the priesthood. The
growing lack of interest in priestly
vocations among Catholic youths is
another major factor. While priests
are leaving through resignation and
death, hardly anyone is stepp ing
forward to replace them. Vatican
figures show that approximately one
fifth of the 190,000 Roman Catholic
parishes throughout the world are
without priests.
The pinch is markedly felt in
dense1y Catholic France, where,
from 1963 to 1971, the total enroll–
ment in the nation's seminaries dra–
matically dropped from 21,713 to
8,39 1.
In the United States, not only is
the number of entering serninarians
falling, but the percentage of those
who drop out before ordination is
on the upswing.
With plummeting ordinations
a nd rising defections among
younger priests, an imbalance of
older meo in the ministry is fast tak–
ing shape. Less than half of the
world's 420,000 Catholic priests are
under 45 years of age.
Lack of Confidence
Celibacy and birth control may
tend to domínate the headlines be–
cause of their sensational nature.
But there is evidence that a much
deeper issue - centering around a
dissatisfaction with Church author–
ity, structures and institutions - is
troubling the Catholic world.
PLAIN TRUTH
June
1973