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Clerical celibacy is the discipline by which only unmarried men are ordained to the episcopate, throughout the Catholic Church, to the priesthood (as a rule to which exceptions are sometimes made for individuals) in some autonomous particular Churches, and similarly to the diaconate, though in this last case exceptions exist not only for single individuals but for whole categories of people. The other autonomous particular Churches, the discipline applies only to ordination to the episcopate. Chief of the Catholic particular Churches that follow this discipline is the Latin Church, but, among the Eastern Catholic Churches, at least the Ethiopic Catholic Church applies it also. In this context, "celibacy" retains its original meaning of "unmarried". Though even the married may observe continence, abstaining from sexual intercourse, the obligation to be celibate is seen as a consequence of the obligation to observe ''perfect and perpetual'' continence for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.〔(Code of Canon Law, canon 277 §1 )〕 Advocates see clerical celibacy as "a special gift of God by which sacred ministers can more easily remain close to Christ with an undivided heart, and can dedicate themselves more freely to the service of God and their neighbour."〔 Throughout the Catholic Church, East as well as West, a priest may not marry. To become a married priest, one must therefore marry ''before'' being ordained. The Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches, without exception, rule out ordination of married men to the episcopate and marriage after priestly ordination (clerical marriage). The law of clerical celibacy is considered to be not a ''doctrine'', but a ''discipline''. Exceptions are sometimes made, especially in the case of married Protestant clergymen who convert to the Catholic Church, and the discipline could in theory be changed for all ordinations to the priesthood. ==Historical origins== In the earliest years of the church, the clergy were largely married men. C K Barrett points to 1 Cor 9:5 as clearly indicating that "apostles, like other Christians, have a right to be (and many of them are) married", and the right for their wife to be "maintained by the communities in which they (apostles ) are working".〔C K Barrett, A Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, 2nd Edition (1971), A&C Black, London, p 203.〕 However, Paul himself was celibate,〔(Calvin J. Roetzel, ''Paul: The Man and the Myth'' (Continuum International 1999 ISBN 978-0-56708698-3), p. 157 )〕〔See e.g. Giggs: http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/transcripts/?id=78〕 and there is no consensus that inclusion among the requirements for candidacy to the office of "overseer" of being "the husband of one wife" meant that celibate Christians were excluded.〔(Carl R. Triebs, ''"About Celibacy, I Have No Instructions from the Lord": An Inquiry Into the Origins of Clerical Celibacy'' (Trafford Publishing 2004 ISBN 978-1-41202871-4), pp. 93–95 )〕 Studies by some Catholic scholars, such as the Ukrainian Roman Cholij〔(Priestly celibacy in patristics and in the history of the Church )〕 and Christian Cochini,〔(Book Review: ''The Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy'' )〕 have argued for the theory that, in early Christian practice, married men who became priests—they were often older men, "elders"—were expected to live in complete continence, refraining permanently from sexual relations with their wives.〔BONIVENTO, Cesare. ( Priestly Celibacy. Ecclesiastical Institution or Apostolic Tradition? ); Thomas McGovern,(Priestly Celibacy Today ); Cochini, Christian, The Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy, Ignatius Press (October 1990). ISBN 0-89870-951-2 ISBN 0-89870-280-1.〕〔''( Celibacy in the Early Church ): The Beginnings of Obligatory Continence for Clerics in East and West'', Stefan Heid, p. 15.〕 When at a later stage it was clear that not all did refrain, the Western Church limited ordination to unmarried men and required a commitment to lifelong celibacy, while the Eastern Churches relaxed the rule, so that Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches now require their married clergy to abstain from sexual relations only for a limited period before celebrating the Eucharist. The Church in Persia, which in the fifth century became separated from the Church described as Orthodox or Catholic, decided at the end of that century to abolish the rule of continence and allow priests to marry, but recognized that it was abrogating an ancient tradition. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, whose separation, along with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, came slightly later, allows deacons (who are ordained when they are boys) to marry after ordination, but not priests: any future priests who wish to marry must do so before becoming priests. The Armenian Apostolic Church, which also belongs to Oriental Orthodoxy, while technically prohibiting, like the Eastern Orthodox Church, marriage after ordination to the sub-diaconate, has generally let this rule fall into disuse and allows deacons to marry up to the point of their priestly ordination, thus continuing to maintain the traditional exclusion of marriage by those who are priests.〔On Oriental Orthodoxy's exclusion of marriage after ordination to priesthood, see (Deacons Focus of Oriental Orthodox-Roman Catholic Consultation )〕 This theory would explain why all the ancient Christian Churches of both East and West, with the one exception mentioned, exclude marriage after priestly ordination, and why all reserve the episcopate (seen as a fuller form of priesthood than the presbyterate) for the celibate. Some Catholic scholars, such as Peter Fink and George T. Dennis SJ of Catholic University of America, have argued that we cannot know if priests in early Christianity practised sexual abstinence. Dennis says "there is simply no clear evidence of a general tradition or practice, much less of an obligation, of priestly celibacy-continence before the beginning of the fourth century".〔Dennis, George T., on Cochini, C. The Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy (book review), Theological Studies, 52:4 (1991:Dec.) p.738〕 Fink says that a primary book used to support apostolic origins of priestly celibacy "remains a work of interpretation. There are underlying premises that seem to hold firm in this book but which would not stand up so comfortably to historical scrutiny". The earliest textual evidence of the forbidding of marriage to clerics and the duty of those already married to abstain from sexual contact with their wives is in the fourth-century decrees of the Council of Elvira and the later Council of Carthage. According to some writers, this presumed a previous norm, which was being flouted in practice.〔(McGovern, chapter 1 ); (Stickler: The Case for Clerical Celibacy (Ignatius Press) ISBN 0-89870-533-9 )〕 * Council of Elvira (c. 305) : (Canon 33): ''It is decided that marriage be altogether prohibited to bishops, priests, and deacons, or to all clerics placed in the ministry, and that they keep away from their wives and not beget children; whoever does this, shall be deprived of the honor of the clerical office.'' * Council of Carthage (390) : (Canon 3): ''It is fitting that the holy bishops and priests of God as well as the Levites, i.e. those who are in the service of the divine sacraments, observe perfect continence, so that they may obtain in all simplicity what they are asking from God; what the Apostles taught and what antiquity itself observed, let us also endeavour to keep… It pleases us all that bishop, priest and deacon, guardians of purity, abstain from conjugal intercourse with their wives, so that those who serve at the altar may keep a perfect chastity.'' Among the early Church statements on the topic of sexual continence and celibacy are the ''Directa'' and ''Cum in unum'' decretals of Pope Siricius (c. 385), which asserted that clerical sexual abstinence was an apostolic practice that must be followed by ministers of the church. The writings of Saint Ambrose (died 397) also show that the requirement that priests, whether married or celibate, should be continent was the established rule. To the married clergy who, "in some out-of-the-way places", claimed, on the model of the Old Testament priesthood, the right to father children, he recalled that in Old Testament times even lay people were obliged to observe continence on the days leading to a sacrifice, and commented: "If such regard was paid in what was only the figure, how much ought it to be shown in the reality!"〔(''De officiis ministrorum'' ), 258.〕 Yet more sternly he wrote: "(Saint Paul) spoke of one who ''has'' children, not of one who ''begets'' children."〔"habentem filios dixit, non facientem" (Ep. extra coll. () 14,62, quoted in Giovanni Coppa, ''Il sacerdote "vero levita" secondo S. Ambrogio'', L'Osservatore Romano 13 January 2007).〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Clerical celibacy (Catholic Church)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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