Roman Catholic priestly celibacy and marriage prohibition

Roman Catholic priestly celibacy and marriage prohibition appear in the diary through a family dilemma rather than a general account of Church law. Andy Warhol recounts his nephew Paulie’s decision to leave the priesthood and marry, distinguishing the act of giving up a parish from the consequence he associates with marriage: excommunication.

The Rule as Described

On February 8, 1978, Paulie called Andy Warhol from New Jersey. He had been in Denver for years and said he was leaving the priesthood to marry. When he later explained that he had given up his Denver parish, Andy clarified that this alone did not end his priestly status: Paulie would still be a priest after leaving the parish, but, as Andy understood the rule, would be excommunicated once he married. The diary thus draws a specific distinction between leaving a clerical post and crossing the boundary created by marriage.

Paulie’s Decision

Paulie had already made the choice Andy hoped to discuss. He told his uncle that he would do what he intended regardless, and asked not to talk about it, although he continued bringing it up. After 5:00, when telephone rates were lower, he called Denver and had Andy speak with his fiancée, a Mexican-American woman of thirty-seven, older than Paulie. Andy found that she sounded nice, but the conversation did not change the stated prospect of marriage or its religious consequence.

Family Conversation and Narrative Function

Andy struggled to respond to the conflict between Paulie’s decision and the consequence he described. He recommended Saturday Night Fever, recalling its plot about a brother leaving the priesthood, and admitted that he did not know what else to say. The comparison offered a ready-made story where direct counsel had failed, while Paulie’s insistence that he would proceed anyway kept the decision in his own hands. The diary gives no further account of the marriage or any subsequent excommunication; its focus is the moment when the rule becomes concrete in a family conversation.