For the records, it takes an average of 16 to 17 years to become a Catholic priest, assuming you joined immediately after primary school. It takes less if you join any other period after this period.
It is not, however, automatic that once you enter seminary you must end up a priest. There are stages. There are tests. There are temptations along the way. There are other unforseen circumstances that can stop one from getting to the end. You can either withdraw at any stage or made to withraw.
Each of the stages exposes you to new level of training both academically and spiritually. You know from day one that celibacy is at the core of the vocation.
Even at the point of ordination, one of the oaths priests swear to is celibacy. Another is total obedience.
That some fail to keep to celibacy does not make it obsolete. Abuse does not take away use. Jesus had 12 disciples among who was Judas that betrayed him. And we know how Judas ended up. Imagine rushing to see a priest for confession and meet him fighting with the wife.
Focus on those that keep to the oath of celibacy and know that those who don't are equally humans. And until the church hierarchy chooses to review it, we must live live with it.
Note: I am not excusing those who fail to keep to the oath they swore to.
Ekwenugo Stephen
Lagos.
12th April, 2019.
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