Were any the apostles of married?
Full Question
Were the apostles married?
Answer
Scripture affirms that St. Peter was married at one point, since Jesus’ healing of his mother-in-law is noted (Matt. 8:14-15). In this article, Catholic Answers founder Karl Keating makes the argument that Peter was a widower at the time.
More to the point, contrary to what some Christians think, Jesus extolled celibacy in service of the kingdom of God (Matt. 19:10-12), as did St. Paul. And like Jesus, Paul lived what he preached, opting for a God-ordained mystical marriage with the Church as an apostle/bishop (1 Cor. 7:7-8; 25-39; see Eph. 5:21-33).
For more on celibacy and the ministerial priesthood, please see this Catholic Answers tract.
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1 comment
Why did they support celibacy? At that time, a tribe’s power was based in large part on how many people it had, so producing kids was a requirement. Jesus and Paul both preached that end-times were imminent, and they felt that sex made you less holy somehow, so it was better to abstain in order to go right to heaven when Jesus returned any day. Of course they were both wrong. Jesus did not return, and people had to return to performing that nasty sex thing which has troubled the Church ever since.
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Celibacy is not “natural” in nature. The best part about it though, is that it does not pass on the genes of the celibate individual, and for that, at least, we should be thankful. Perhaps the genetic trait that attracts one to celibacy is dying out, which may explain why there are fewer and fewer priests!