All men ordained to the priesthood of Jesus Christ are given a sacred trust from God. The Latin word for priest, sacerdos,expresses this clearly: he is to teach (docere) sacred things (sacer). Whether he is preaching, teaching, writing, counseling, or in the confessional, the words of a priest have a lofty origin and divine purpose: to form Christ in the hearts of his hearers. 

            In order to fulfill this sacred office, it is necessary that the clergy speak not their own opinions, but the words of Christ Himself. As St. Paul writes: “Christ speaketh in me” (2 Corinthians 13:3). There is only one Shepherd, one voice, which ought to be spoken, the voice of Christ: “My sheep hear my voice…and they follow me” (John 10:27). The sheep hear Christ’s voice only if the priest speaks in unison with the voice of the Good Shepherd. If the priest speaks his own opinion, the sheep will not follow: “A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers” (John 10:5). 

            This is especially true when it comes to teaching about holy matrimony. The priest has been entrusted by Mother Church in a special way with the office of forming people’s consciences about the truths regarding marital love. In 1930, Pope Pius XI wrote the encyclical Casti Connubii (On Christian Marriage) where he makes a fatherly plea to his beloved priests not to violate this sacred trust that God has assigned to them: “We admonish, therefore, priests who hear confessions and others who have the care of souls…not to allow the faithful entrusted to them to err regarding this most grave law of God… If any confessor or pastor of souls, which may God forbid, lead the faithful entrusted to him into these errors or should at least confirm them by approval or by guilty silence, let him be mindful of the fact that he must render a strict account to God, the Supreme Judge, for the betrayal of his sacred trust.”⁽¹⁾Casti Connubii, 57.

            It often takes patience and time to properly explain Church teachings, especially within a culture that has been broadcasting a contrary message for decades. However, the Pope is making the general point that clergy are not only abusing the position they hold if they teach their own private opinions, but also placing their eternal salvation in jeopardy. The Catechism of the Catholic Church labels any dissension by the clergy as a grave betrayal of their sacred trust: “Scandal is grave when given by those who by nature or office are obliged to teach and educate others. Jesus reproaches the scribes and Pharisees on this account: he likens them to wolves in sheep’s clothing.”⁽²⁾Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2285.

Pope St. Paul VI to his Priests

             Similar counsel was given to priests by Pope St. Paul VI in his 1968 encyclical, Humanae Vitae (On Human Life). He points out that a sacred trust has been assigned to the priests as teachers (sacer-docentes) to form the consciences of the faithful regarding the nature of conjugal love: “And now, beloved sons, you who are priests, you who in virtue of your sacred office act as counselors and spiritual leaders both of individual men and women and of families—We turn to you filled with great confidence. For it is your principal duty…to spell out clearly and completely the Church’s teaching on marriage. In the performance of your ministry you must be the first to give an example of that sincere obedience, inward as well as outward, which is due to the magisterium of the Church.”⁽³⁾Humanae Vitae, 28.

            How did his beloved sons react to these words? Upon Humanae Vitae’s publication, a group of dissenting theologians at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., led by Fr. Charles Curran, boldly defied the Pope and issued statements claiming that Catholics could oppose the Church’s teaching according to their individual consciences. The media fanned the flames of division against the Pope and the dissent only grew, spreading even to moral theology professors in the seminaries.  It is possible to hear stories from priests today who were in seminary at that time of how their professors continually spoke against Humanae Vitae in the classroom.

Priests who Faithfully Teach about the Sanctity of Marriage

             However, there were also priests who heard the voice of the Good Shepherd speaking through Pope Paul VI and they heroically remained faithful. From the testimonies of these loyal priests who lived through that dark period, it appears that they were a minority. For example, Cardinal James F. Stafford wrote a moving testimony in recent years about how in 1968 the priests of the Archdiocese of Baltimore publicly mobilized against Humanae Vitae, and privately persecuted the few priests who dared to remain faithful.⁽⁴⁾https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/priests_still_suffering_from_effects_of_humanae_vitae_dissenters_vatican_cardinal_says.

             Another example of a good son of the Church is the late Fr. Robert Zylla O.S.C., who taught moral theology at my seminary, Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Fr. Zylla was teaching as a seminary professor through that tumultuous time and years later he told us seminarians: “Prior to 1968 there was great unity among the priests. Whenever you walked into a room of priests there was an instant bond and trust. After 1968, there was instant distrust and division. No priest knew to which group you belonged and in whom you could trust.” Again, there is only one voice of the Good Shepherd. Those who speak with His voice are united. Those who speak with their own voices with regard to the nature of marital love, create division. 

             One of the great signs of hope in this battle for priests to be faithful is St. John Paul II’s 1993 encyclical Veritatis Splendor, The Splendor of Truth.  Veritatis Splendor was the first magisterial encyclical ever devoted to the central issues in fundamental moral theology. The encyclical gave a thorough critique of the dissenting theology used against Humane Vitae and today has become the standard text for seminary moral theology classes.       

             Exactly forty years after Fr. Curran rejected the Church’s teaching on marriage, Pope Benedict XVI visited the same Catholic University of America and gave a talk to the university faculty about the office of teaching. Here he coined the phrase, “intellectual charity”, explaining that teaching the truths of the faith is an act of compassion. The Pope said, “This aspect of charity calls the educator to recognize that the profound responsibility to lead the young to truth is nothing less than an act of love.”⁽⁵⁾Pope Benedict XVI, Address to Catholic Educators, Catholic University of America, April 17, 2008. Wanting to lead people to the truth is an impulse of the Spirit, a movement originating from God, and when the priest teaches the truth about marriage properly understood, he is motivated by supernatural charity.

             The success of the Church’s mission is dependent on the success of the priest fulfilling this role as faithful teacher of the Gospel. The Second Vatican Council proclaimed in its introduction to the Decree on Priestly Training: “Animated by the spirit of Christ, this sacred synod is fully aware that the desired renewal of the whole Church depends to a great extent on the ministry of its priests.”⁽⁶⁾Optatam Totius, Introduction. If the priest teaches the truths about holy matrimony in unison with the voice of the Good Shepherd, and not with his own personal opinions, a proper renewal of the whole Church will occur.