NBB-4

Schillebeeckx argues that the charism of celibacy is only meaningful if it is arrived at between an individual and God and not imposed from the outside. Therefore, celibacy for the secular clergy makes no sense. Of course, at the end he defends the Pope's right to impose it, as all good Catholic theologians, even in those heady days of Vatican 2, must. I remember when I thought the Catholic Church would actually be swayed by reason and historical studies such as this one. Boy, was I naive. ( )