AmericanPapist Comments
It seems the celibacy issue has always been a personal one for the Holy Father. In "Salt of the Earth," (the book length interview he did with Peter Seewald, published in English in 1997), Mr. Seewald states the following: "During your homily before leaving for Rome [in 1981], you put yourself in the position of a doubter who realized that what he had sown was coming to nothing....and he likewise felt desire born of a solitude grown more difficult, the question of whether celibacy, which wasn't the first thing desired but only accepted for the sake of another call, was meaningful. Everything had grown dark around him; he finally wanted to be a man like everyone else, just to be himself." It sounds like it was a pretty painful choice--and one which he still regrets.
Hi, Jill ...
The question of celibacy is something that anyone who enters the religious life has to confront -- and confront with great seriousness. I think that it was a decision that the Holy Father truly grappled with because he himself had a happy family life -- the example of his parents showed him how married life can be very fulfilling. One thing about Joseph Ratzinger is that he is devoted to his family, and until he moved to Bonn in the 60's, he never really lived far from them -- becoming a priest would have meant that he would never have a family of his own, and in time, he would eventually be completely on his own. It's no secret that he took the death of his sister rather hard.
Also, I think he has a very soft spot for children -- you see it in the way his face and his eyes light up when children are brought to him. I think he would have been a very loving father and grandfather -- perhaps the question of celibacy was, for him, more of the question of whether he could forego the joy of having his own children, and teaching them about the faith that is his whole life, in much the same way his own parents taught him.
I don't think that it is a decision he truly regrets -- I do think, though, that when he sees the children smiling at him, the question of what might have been occasionally whispers very softly at the back of his mind, just as it probably whispers in the minds of priests through the ages -- whatever else pop culture may tell us, I do believe that fatherhood still means a lot to many men.
Personally, I am profoundly grateful that Joseph Ratzinger made that great decision more than 50 years ago -- and that he made another great decision on April 19, 2005. All part of God's wonderful plan to give us this loving and gentle genius.
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