We want to put you in touch with the Church, whether you are a Catholic or just an enquirer. You may know your own parish or the Catholic school your child is attending. You may get fragmented bits of information about the Church from secular media. What you need is a full picture, an inside view, an authentic voice. This we wish to give you.

Communication through the media is much hampered in Zimbabwe. There are few church publications. This website tries to put you in touch with the Church electronically. Print interesting material out, put it on your parish notice board, share it with your friends.

This website is an initiative of JESUIT COMMUNICATIONS. It is not an initiative of the Church as such. It does not speak for the Bishops. But Jesuits are part of the Church and loyal to it. Within the Church there are different gifts and charism, contributing to the life of the Church in their various ways. This website is our Jesuit contribution.

Priestly Celibacy a Radical Love for God and People

By Oskar Wermter SJ

Much of it remains below the surface, but here and there it breaks through – the debate about priestly celibacy in Africa. In Kenya and Zambia some priests who have married and their supporters have broken away from the Catholic Church. A public stance has been taken, so there is a public reaction.

Celibacy is a provocation and has often been called into question, in different cultures and countries, at different times and in various situations.

Some of the African contributors to the debate link it with Inculturation. They doubt its suitability for Africa for reasons of culture.

They seem to say, ‘Western people don’t value family life very much, so they don’t mind celibacy, but Africa being a culture of the family regards it as foreign.’

There may be good reasons, based on the pastoral needs of the people, to propose new forms of the priesthood to complement the current celibate priesthood. But the quoted cultural reason is based on a common misunderstanding.

THE RIGHT TO THE EUCHARIST

A recently encountered quotation from a letter of Karl Rahner has provoked much soul searching.  He wrote: “If the Church everywhere, or in certain areas, is unable to find enough clergy unless she abandons celibacy, then she must abandon it;  for the obligation to provide enough pastors for the Christian people takes precedence.”

            This seems so obvious that it should hardly need stating.  Yet it runs counter to  official Church teaching and would be roundly condemned as such by various bodies, if allowed to come up for discussion.