From the Depths of Our Hearts: Priesthood, Celibacy and the Crisis of the Catholic Church Kindle Edition

This book has given a greater love for the priesthood and all who give all for the life of the church, Jesus her bridegroom.

There are essentially 4 parts to this book: Joint Opener, Benedict’s essay, Sarah’s essay, and the joint close. I’ll ignore the opener and the closer and focus on the two essays. First, Benedict’s. His writing was logical and clear. Information was densely packed. A fairly quick read.Old Testament Levites were priests with qualifications they passed along to each new generation. The Levites did not get land, so they lived through donations from other tribes. When Christianity began, priest roles were modeled after the Levites but the job was no longer inherited through membership in the tribe of Levi. Anyone with a calling from God could now become a priest, but the model for the priesthood was otherwise similar between old and new testament examples.According to Benedict, the Levites of Old Testament days were “strictly obliged to observe sexual abstinence during the times when they led worship and were therefore in contact with the divine mystery.” That requirement was adopted by the new church—with a twist. Because priests in the new Christian church were celebrating the Eucharist daily, there was never a time when sexual activity was appropriate. Thus, a celibate priesthood for the new church. The Levites were only in contact with the divine mystery on set days, so they were able to manage these tasks and still have a family. The difference was daily mass.I disagree with his conclusion, but Benedict’s essay helped me to better understand the issue of celibacy in the Catholic church and how we came to be where we are today. Now, for a quick observation or two on Robert Cardinal Sarah’s essay.Once upon a time, Cardinal Sarah was a young missionary. He went to remote villages of Guinea. There he encountered a faith community that was hungry for celebration of the mass and apparently hailed him much as they might have responded to a second coming of Jesus Christ. He cites this experience as a reason for the status quo: How would they all have experienced such joy if that community had simply ordained a married man to be the priest? Oddly, this argument circles back to the original call for a celibate priesthood. Remember the need for celibacy was because the new church wanted daily celebration of the Eucharist? But here, Sarah suggests that years’ long abstinence on the part of the community is perfectly acceptable, and in fact, a wonderful gift of the Lord. (“The wonderful thing about hitting yourself with a wrench is that it feels so good when you stop.”)On page 113, there is an interesting linkage to Sarah’s Christ-like reception in Guinea. He expresses the opinion that the priest “truly is … Christ himself,” and he even found a quote from Saint Josemaria Escriva, who apparently said the same thing.Frankly, I don’t much care for the points offered by Sarah in his essay. His words form an emotional appeal that stands in stark contrast to Benedict’s logic. The fact that they both want the same final disposition of the celibate issue does little to compensate for Sarah’s hollow arguments. Throughout, I found his opinions to be formed based on an ideal that does not exist today – if it ever did. No seminarian is perfect and ordination does not alter that situation for ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’Setting up hurdles like celibacy for mortal men may lead to a deep satisfaction for a few, but for the majority, the call to celibacy appears to be a burden that is difficult to bear. The result of rampant pedophilia in the church is one proof that priests do not all perfectly follow Christ’s example, and those pedophile priests never became Christ – not even for a split second at the moment of transubstantiation during a mass. Idealism in policy making may achieve a goal of more and more faithful doing without the Eucharist, but it will not lead to more Christlike behaviors in the priesthood.In summary, I suggest you read this book, so you can read the arguments for yourself. If you have limited time, read Benedict’s essay (4 stars) and shred the rest (1 star). Overall rating: 2.5 rounded up to 3.

Great food for thought and meditation from spiritually mature leaders.

The authors make the compelling case that celibacy is fundamental to the definition of being a priest. A priest is a servant to the Church who sacrifices his corporeal self in the place of that of Jesus in service to the Church, particularly during the consecration of the Eucharist. This sacrifice precludes the commitment that each spouse makes to the other in matrimony. The authors establish this role of the priest by appealing to both the old and new testaments and the writings of saints.The authors address the Panamazon synod in particular, in which many argued that the requirement for celibacy be relaxed to accommodate the shortage of priests in that region. The argument was that the reason for celibacy is not understood in that primitive culture so vocations for the priesthood would be inhibited. The authors counter that this is human reasoning and that vocations are from God. God can handle it. Such thinking, the authors say, is actually insulting to members of those cultures and deprives them of priests fully dedicated to their vocation. Marriage for priests not only conflicts with their priesthood, but also interferes with their marriage.Celibacy for priests is definitively resolved in this book and should put the issue to rest. I highly recommend this book to anyone concerned about the subject.

This is a beautifully written book by our beloved German Shepherd, Pope Benedict XVI! Both he and Cardinal Sarah are intellectuals, so I had to really pay attention. I would learn more if I took the time to take notes and meditate on each paragraph! Highly recommended.

This was a very well written book. Made me see celibacy in the priesthood completely differently. Definitely recommend for anyone that wonders why priests are celibate or think the celibacy restriction should be lifted.

Cardinal Sarah - with input from Emeritus Pope Benedict (Cardinal Ratzinger) - felt strongly that he needed to write this book to counter certain ideas in circulation.

While this book may be fairly deep, it succinctly reinforces the solid rationale for continued celibacy in the Catholic Church. It should be required reading for all studying to become priests. The layperson can also benefit from the persuasive and coherent treatment of the subject.

This book will appeal mainly to those of a Conservative Catholic conscience because it argues an oft disputed point and comes out in their favour. It will not win plaudits from theologians, academics or historians, and will offend those of other eccesial communities, with it's trawling for evidence to prove the author's (mainly Cardinal Sarah's) points. (To point to uncited evidence from the Greek Orthodox Church, as Card. Sarah does, it is ungracious, undiplomatic but also lacking in ecumenical respect; to not cite the sources of this evidence is ungracious to the reader who has to assume the veracity of bald statements - his arguments descends at time into something akin 'as any fule kno', Searle's Molesworth at its finest.)Having read the text I can see why Pope Emeritus Benedict was so keen to distance himself from the book. Not because it failed to respect Pope Francis's work, his writing is entirely respectful of Francis, but because Card. Sarah's argument is so poorly put that it lacks intellectual and academic credibility. That is not to say the arguments themselves are wrong, it is that they are put in such a way as to make them implausible.But then it will please those who enjoy reading the works of Aux Bishop Athansius Schneider, and who are convinced that only he and Card. Sarah can save the Church.

An excellent defence of celibacy and its spiritual value, showing how it is fundamental to the nature of the priesthood properly understood

Brilliant book by two brilliant men of God. The Priesthood, Celibacy and the Catholic Church are inseparable great gifts from God for us all, and this book clearly demonstrates why.

You have to be living it to fully appreciate it

Excellent book and is a help on your spiritual earthly pilgrimage to our homeland in Heavenly