“Should we come back to the rule of celibacy for priests imposed in the Church since the 12th century? “

Tribune. Legend has it that Saint Anthony, a refugee in the desert in the IVe century, never ceased to have the mind tormented by the demons of lust. Now he was in the desert! The modern priest lives in today’s world. A world which has undergone a profound revolution in its mores for fifty years, experiences sexuality differently and projects its images on all screens, billboards and magazines.

And the priest, partly for lack of a drop in vocations, has become quite alone in this unbridled world, less surrounded than in the past to manage his personal balance. A debate is difficult to begin within the Catholic hierarchy: should we go back to the rule of celibacy for priests imposed in the Church since the 12th?e century? Some recent scandals and the decline in vocations force this reflection.

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If this reform is expected by the majority of Catholics, it will be very difficult to carry out, not only for political reasons of protecting the unity of the Church. It calls into question in depth its internal organization, its governance, according to this modern term taken from canon law.

Difficult control

A little sociology of organizations helps to understand this. The fact that an association – the Churches are special cases – lives on donations and contributions, and not on capital contributions and retained profits, means that in general the external control exercised by third parties (donors) is less than for capital companies.

As with companies, there are no “investors”, that is, people who expect a return for their invested funds. But there remains, as in the case of companies, many incentives for internal agents (clerics, in the case of the Churches) to appropriate certain advantages in a private capacity.

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The balance is achieved, in such organizations, by reinforced control structures. When their size is small, the manager has the means to exercise real supervision and transparency is more easily ensured. Certain statutory rules, in particular non-renewable mandates, also help.

The vows of celibacy and poverty

The Catholic Church is a very special institution. First, its size is enormous since it exercises its empire on a continental scale. Its governance is based on a very strict hierarchical principle and characterized, unlike other cults, by the absence of lay councils with a role of surveillance of the secular clergy, empowered to ratify expenditure and the allocation of resources.

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