Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy

by Christian Cochini, Nelly Marans (Translator)

Christian Cochini, S.J. He examines the question of when the tradition of priestly celibacy began in the Latin Church, and he is able to trace it back to its origins with the apostles. He examines evidence about the marital status of every known bishop, priest or deacon of the period and gives an exhaustive list of married clerics from apostolic times until the end of the seventh century, a list that includes not only the Western Church, but the East and also the Nestorian, Novatian and Pelagian Church. Then Cochini examines the relevant Church documents for the same period, including council and synod documents, papal letters, ecclesial and even secular legislation as it relates to the problem. He also provides a survey of scholarly literature on the topic. This is the definitive scholarly statement on the discipline of priestly celibacy in the Church East and West. What Cochini

Genres: Religion, History

492 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Fr. Jeffrey Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even apart from the subject matter, this book is a masterpiece of ancient Christian scholarship: the documents presented are so comprehensive as to almost be considered complete. It is hard to know how anything else could be discovered or presented on the topic.

Regarding the subject matter itself, the author has thoroughly convinced me that, from apostolic times until AD 691, deacons, priests, and bishops were required to abstain from sexual relations after ordination, even if they were legitimately married. His approach to the documents he presents seems fair - there are a few that seem to contradict his thesis and he does not shy away from pointing this out - but his conclusion leaves no doubt.

This is a MUST read for those who want to stop having to defend priestly celibacy in the West as a Medieval invention based only on property protection.