The Fatherhood of the Priest

THE THOMIST A SPECULATIVE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY EDITORS: THE DoMINICAN FATHERS OF THE PRoVINCE oF ST. JosEPH Publishers: The Thomist Press, Washington 17, D. C. VoL. X JULY, 1947 No.8 THE FATHERHOOD OF THE PRIEST T HERE is a growing curiosity in the world today concerning the reason why the Catholic priest is called father. There are many outside the Church who vehemently deny the priest's claim to fatherhood, whereas many of the faithful, while they readily assent to the paternity of the priest, are unable to offer any solid arguments in favor of their position. The principal reason why both Catholics and nonCatholics cannot understand the reason for regarding the priest as a father is because they fail to understand the notion of fatherhood. Some have gone so far as to maintain that fatherhood is a relation to be found in God alone; and these object to the application of the term to others in view of the words of Christ, " Call none your father upon earth; for one is your father, who is in heaven~" 1 This objection, of course, totally disregards the context in which Christ's words were spoken. Our divine Lord does not restrict paternity to God the Father, 1 Matt., xxili. 9. 271 THOMAS E. D. HENNESSY although, as we shall see in the course of these pages, it is God alone Who is Father in the fullest sense of the word, and the term is applied to others only in so far as they participate in His paternity. Others are under the impression that fatherhood is the relation of the principle of generation in only natural created beings. This materialistic concept rules out not only the fatherhood of the priest, but that of God as well. An understanding of the solution to this problem has great practical importance, for the relations between priest and people are, to a great extent, determined by whether or not the priest recognizes the faithful as his children, and the faithful in turn regard the priest as their father. The recognition of this mutual relationship will result not only in a more zealous, understanding priesthood, but also in a more enlightened, militant laity. When the priests see in the faithful their own spiritual children whom they must nourish, protect and instruct in the supernatural life, they cannot but be inspired with a more loving , all-embracing solicitude for the problems of their subjects. When this paternal solicitude is manifested in the daily life of the priest, there will arise a bond of the utmost confidence between him and the faithful which will induce them to bring all their difficulties to him as a child to his father; they will ever be running to the priest for that nourishment, encouragement and guidance which are so necessary for existence in the spiritual life. When, as today, however, priests and people lose consciousness of their respective relationships of fathers and children, the closest bond of mutual confidence between the priesthood and the faithful is thereby relaxed and a distance and diffidence often grows up instead.2 Besides the practical importance of this question, it is of great theoretical value in as much as its solution implies an investigation of the most ·fundamental theological problems together with their intimate relations among one another. In order to understand the priest's claims to fatherhood it is neces- • Cf. H. E. Manning, The Eternal Priesthood (The Newman Bookshop, Westminster , Md.: 1944); pp. 22-28. THE FATHERHOOD OF THE PRIEST ~73 sary to be acquainted with the Church's teachings on such important doctrines as the Trinity, the Incarnation, the efficacy of Christ's Passion, grace and its communication through the sacraments, and especially on the Christian priesthood. Moreover , a knowledge of the important philosophical· concept of analogy is of the utmost necessity. The precise end we have in view in writing this article is to show that the priest is truly and formally a father. We are not concerned here with the priest's non-formal claims to fatherhood , first of all because these are multitudinous and hence could not be adequately treated in so brief a study, but...