In Revelation 1:6 John calls all believers "priests." But, the Catholics teach "as doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:9) and have their own special class of priests. In the official Catechism of the Catholic Church on page 395 under #1580, speaking in the context of "priests" it states:
>In the East as in the West a man who has already received the sacrament of Holy Orders can no longer marry.It is well known that both priests and nuns are forbidden to marry. Yet, Scripture condemns such a practice in 1 Timothy 4. Despite this clear declaration of the Word of God, Catholic Answers (a Catholic apologetic ministry, P. O. Box 199000, San Diego, CA 92159; 619-387-7200;
www.catholic.com) has produced a tract entitled "Celibacy and the Priesthood" in which they attempt to justify the unholy ways of the Catholic Church. In this tract, they write, ". . . the Catholic Church does not forbid anyone to marry." But then, "speaking lies in hypocrisy" (1 Timothy 4:2) in the next paragraph they state,
>It is true that Catholic priests in the West may not be married, but no one is obliged to become a priest.>Marriage is not forbidden to them as human beings, but as priests.It is still forbidden! 1 Timothy 4:3 simply says, "forbidding to marry", not "forbidding to marry as human beings." Earlier (in the first paragraph of the tract) they admit (speaking in the context of the "Eastern Rites"),
Once ordained, though, an unmarried priest may not marry, and a married priest, if widowed, may not remarry.
