A Consequentialist Argument for Maintaining the Latin Discipline

Au contraire, the question of married priests is primarily a disciplinary one. Employing the "dismal science" to do a cost/benefit analysis of changing the discipline without questioning the institutional assumptions is to get the conclusion one wants. A change in discipline requires other concurrent ecclesial reforms (such as smaller parishes with face-to-face or personal accountability) which would eliminate or replace those institutional assumptions; do a cost-benefit analysis after those assumptions have been examined. After all, it is primarily due to centralization of ecclesial authority and the building of large-scale institutions (seminaries as a part of the Counter-Reformation), along with clericalism, that enabled the discipline of clerical celibacy to be take hold, despite previous resistance in many geographic areas.

Celibacy does not guarantee good priests any more than college degrees guarantee good employees. From the print edition:https://t.co/wvjcxSipr6

— First Things (@firstthingsmag) January 17, 2021