Sacraments
Holy Orders and Priestly Celibacy
Holy Orders configures a man to Christ the Priest for sacramental ministry, and the Latin Church has long fostered priestly celibacy as a sign of undivided devotion to Christ.
Catholic teaching
Through ordination a man receives an indelible character enabling him to act in the person of Christ the Head, especially in confecting the Eucharist and forgiving sins. Celibacy is not doctrine but a disciplinary practice in the Latin Church, freely chosen in imitation of Christ's own celibacy and Paul's teaching on undivided devotion, while Eastern Catholic Churches permit married priests.
Biblical foundation
Paul teaches that the unmarried are free to be 'anxious about the affairs of the Lord' without division, and recommends celibacy 'for the sake of the kingdom' following Christ's own words about those who renounce marriage for the kingdom's sake.
Scripture references
Historical evidence
The Council of Elvira in Spain around AD 306 already legislated clerical continence, and by the fourth century celibacy for bishops and priests was widely promoted in the West, eventually becoming a settled discipline formalized at the Second Lateran Council in 1139.
The Church Fathers
“Fitting it is that the sacrifice ought to be offered by men free from the marriage bond.”