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Question: Why do Catholics call their priests "Father", when Jesus said that you should not call anyone on earth your father since we have only one Father in heaven?? Answer: Well, to answer that question, I think we should go back to the text. The text is in Matthew chapter 23, and this is a dreadful chapter actually. Scholars have been amazed at the violence of Jesus' language, the violence of the attack of Jesus on the Pharisees in this chapter of Matthew. He had this to say about the Pharisees, that "They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honour at feasts and the best seats at the synagogues, and salutations in the market places, and being called rabbi by men. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ. He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." So this is a very important text and we have to consider the whole context in which the prohibition of calling anyone, father, on earth is found. Now, I would like to point out at this point that there are a number of prominent people in the New Testament who ascribe to themselves a spiritual paternity; they consider themselves fathers in seeming contradiction of this text here. For instance, at the very end of Peter 1, St. Peter refers to Mark as his son, so he considers himself the father, the spiritual father of Mark. You can also appeal to the first Epistle of John. Again and again, he calls the members of his church "my little children". Therefore we see that he regards himself as the father of the church in Ephesus for which he was working. I suppose the most classical text of all is really first Corinthians, where St. Paul at the end of a long development says, "I do not write this to make you ashamed but to acknowledge you as my beloved children, for though you have countless guides in Christ you do not have many fathers, for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel." (1 Cor. 4:14-15) You can hardly get a text clearer than that, that St. Paul calls himself the father of the Corinthians because he spiritually generated the Corinthians by preaching the Gospel to them and calling forth the response of faith which led them into a new life and made them part of the new creation. Now, let us go back to the text in Matthew and see exactly what it means. What it certainly does not mean is we shouldn't call anybode father. We call our own human father, "father". It is ridiculous to interpret it literally to mean that we should not call anyone father. After all, at the very beginning of Jesus' life, Mary refers to Joseph as the father of Jesus. So, what does the text mean? There are a number of titles here that Jesus mentions, one is "rabbi"; we are told this of the Pharisees that they love to be called "rabbi" by men. And Jesus says we are not to be called rabbis. Jesus also said we are to call no one "father" on earth. That is the second title. The third title is "master". They are not to be called master and he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. So, there are three titles here, they are "rabbi", "father", and "master"; and it is quite evident that in the society that Matthew was writing for, there was a kind of scramble amongst the pharisees for these titles. These were honourable titles, honorific titles in that society, and what Jesus is saying is that the leaders of Christians should not be thirsting, as it were, for these worldly honours and these titles. So that is the real meaning of the text here. So, it is ridiculous to say then that a Catholic priest should not be addressed as father. It is a very Biblical title actually, "father", and we find it, as I have already mentioned, in the writings of St. John, the writings of St. Peter, and those of St. Paul. Now, why are Catholic priests called father? Well, since Vatican II, we have realized that the primary function of the Catholic priest is to preach the Word of God, so he is first and foremost a proclaimer of the Gospel. Now, when you read St. Paul and the Book of Acts and the Gospel themselves, you will find again and again and again an association between preaching the Word of God and the response of faith. It is the Word which calls forth the response of faith and is responsible for faith. I will just give you one or two texts. In chapter 17 of John, Jesus prays, "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word." (Jn. 17:20) Also in chapter 10 of Romans, Paul says that "faith comes from hearing, hearing the word of God." So in that sense, every Catholic priest who preaches authentically is a father. He generates faith in his congregation and it is quite legitimate for that reason then to address him as father. So, he exercises in his ministry a spiritual paternity by calling forth the response of faith through the ministry of the word. And this ministry of the word is climaxed, of course, in the ministry of the sacraments and above all, in the Holy Eucharist itself. (Source: "Questions People often Ask", a booklet dealing with some questions people often ask about our Catholic faith. The answers are provided by Fr. Sean Kelleher C.Ss.R., a well known biblical scholar and writer, based on the questions put by Fr. Paul Pang C.Ss.R.) | Back to Main Page | |