9 January—Last week, The Monitor’s scavenger-in-chief (SIC) came upon rather less than the normal quota of Catholic Transcripts (CTs) in the Litchfield post orifice’s recycling-cum-trash bins. Usually, on the day they’re stuffed in the overpriced and underprivileged PO boxes, there would be at least a dozen copies of “The Magazine of the Archdiocese of Hartford,” as the CT announces on the cover, on the very top of the bins. But our SIC found only two last week. Perhaps his timing was bad or most of the discarded CTs were in the bowels of the bins, as is not unlikely the case with most mail most of the time.

Anyway, the January/February 2024 issue contains all the usual stuff that explains why so many CTs are summarily discarded by dues-paying Catholics. But this issue treats diligent as well as simply curious readers to an intriguingly titled essay by the archdiocese’s director of vocations, essentially the archbishop’s recruiting officer. He’s a priest himself, of course.

For those readers not familiar with the term “vocation” in a religious context, it means just what it does in a secular context—an occupation, a career. But taken religiously, a vocation implies that someone has had a spiritual—divine—call to lead a religious life.

So what does the archdiocese’s recruiting officer have to say that’s so intriguing? Well, the title of his essay is “Celibacy is God’s Gift to the Church.” The church in this case is, of course, the Roman Catholic Church, as most other religions don’t impose celibacy on their clergy.

Scriptural and spiritual rationales for clerical continence abound, but celibacy—etymologically, simply meaning being unmarried—never has been dogma and wasn’t formally imposed on priests until the twelfth century. Cynics reckon that Rome at that time was worried that priests’ children would inherit church property and create their own dynasties. How silly to even think that. Surprisingly, clerical celibacy didn’t become part of Roman Catholic canon law until as recently as 1917.

In 2019, Pope Francis (who else? bless him!), acknowledged that his clergy haven’t always followed that ridiculous law. Among others. Ya think? But even though Francis still insists that priestly celibacy “is not eternal like priestly ordination, which is forever,” he’s not about to do anything to end his church’s legal stricture. As reigning pope, he could and can do that simply by issuing a bull. But he’s a distinctly liberal politician in a decidedly conservative legislature. (And never forget that all religion is first and foremost political, then social, and only last theological.)

Pope Francis did last year, however, call priestly celibacy “a gift from God.” And that takes us back to the essay in CT. The whole piece is about Father Edward Flanagan and his legendary Boys Town. Everybody knows about Boys Town. The Monitor has one of its calendars rescued from you know where. Spencer Tracy won an Oscar for playing Father Flanagan in 1938. And the good father is on his way to sainthood.

So the gist of the essay is that although Father Flanagan never married (and presumably remained celibate and chaste all his 61 years), he had hundreds of sons because more than 800 men who had grown up in Boys Town and later enlisted for military service in World War II listed him as their official next of kin.

That’s rather touching, if sophistical in the circumstance. Just like the essay’s last paragraph: “Many of the young men who are discerning a vocation to the priesthood have questions and concerns about celibacy, and rightfully so. The vocation of marriage is natural and wonderful; if it were not such a good thing, celibacy would not be much of a sacrifice. And it is in that total sacrificial offering of oneself made by celibate priests and religious sisters that love of God reaches the most forgotten and most abandoned.

“Just like it did for Father Flanagan and his 800 sons.”

Why is sacrifice necessary for priesthood? And we always thought that the best advertisement for celibacy was marriage . . .