I wish to express my disappointment with the Uganda priests who have formed the group called the Catholic Apostolic National Church which does not require celibacy. This group is outside the Catholic Church and should not use the name “Catholic”. True Believers should stay clear of this heretical sect of deviant priests. Its members are likely to be excommunicated as was their leader Rev. Luciano Anzanga Mbewe.

Celibacy has an eminent spiritual dimension that greatly transcends the question of discipline. Stefan Heid, professor of Liturgy and Hagiography at the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archeology, stated that “according to the judgment of the early Church, ecclesiastical celibacy has dogmatic relevance.”

Celibacy is a time honored tradition that has been embraced and guarded by the Catholic Church for centuries as a brilliant jewel.

The Second Vatican Council confirmed that the Christian priesthood can be understood only in the light of the newness of Christ, the Supreme Pontiff and eternal Priest, who instituted the priesthood of the ministry as a real participation in His own unique priesthood.

To share authentically in the ministerial priesthood of Christ means to devote one’s entire life to the faith while sharing with Christ his very condition of living. Indeed Jesus promised a more abundant recompense to anyone who should leave home, family, wife, and children for the sake of the Kingdom of God. (Luke 18: 29-30).

There is ample evidence in the words of Jesus and St. Paul (Matt. xix I2; Cor., vii, 7-8 and 32-35.) for looking upon virginity as the higher call, and by inference, as the condition befitting those who are set apart for the work of the ministry.

In the words of Pope John Paul II: “The value of celibacy as a complete gift of self to the Lord and his church must be carefully safeguarded…The life of chastity, poverty, and obedience willingly embraced and faithfully lived confutes the conventional wisdom of the world and challenges the commonly accepted vision of life.”
Paul Kokoski.