Jesus said, "Call no one on earth your father." So why do Catholics call their priests "Father"? Fair question. Here's the Bible's answer.
Short answer: Because the New Testament does the same thing. In Matthew 23, Jesus forbids treating any man as a rival to God, not the word "father" itself. In the same breath He forbids the title "teacher," yet St. Paul calls himself both a "teacher" and a spiritual "father." Catholics call priests "Father" for the reason St. Paul gave: he became a father to believers "in Christ Jesus through the gospel."
Key verses on calling priests "Father"
- "Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven." (Matthew 23:9)
- "...yet you do not have many fathers, for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel." (1 Corinthians 4:15)
- "My brothers and fathers, listen." (Acts 7:2)
- "I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning." (1 John 2:13)
- "to Timothy, my true child in faith" (1 Timothy 1:2)
- "my child Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment" (Philemon 1:10)
Scripture quotations are from the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
What Catholics Actually Teach
Calling a priest "Father" is a custom of respect, not a dogma. But it rests on Church teaching: "The divine fatherhood is the source of human fatherhood" (CCC 2214). A man can be a father only by sharing in what God is fully.
The Church reasons the same way about priesthood. Christ's priesthood is unique, yet "it is made present through the ministerial priesthood without diminishing the uniqueness of Christ's priesthood," for "Only Christ is the true priest, the others being only his ministers" (CCC 1545). Likewise, God alone is Father in the full sense. A priest is a father only as God's servant, bringing spiritual children to life through the Gospel and the sacraments.
What Catholics do not teach:
- That a priest replaces God the Father. He is a servant of the one Father, never a rival.
- That Matthew 23 doesn't apply to clergy. It does. A priest who craves honor breaks Jesus' warning, whatever people call him.
The Biblical Case
1. Read Matthew 23 in context
Jesus is rebuking the scribes and Pharisees: "They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation 'Rabbi'" (Matthew 23:6–7).
Then come three titles, not one:
"As for you, do not be called 'Rabbi.' You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called 'Master'; you have but one master, the Messiah." (Matthew 23:8–10)
The point: "The greatest among you must be your servant" (Matthew 23:11). Jesus targets pride, and treating human leaders as the ultimate source of truth and life, a place that belongs to God alone.
2. "Teacher" is forbidden in the same breath
If Matthew 23 bans "father" as a title, it bans "teacher" too. Yet Christ gave the Church "pastors and teachers" (Ephesians 4:11), and St. Paul calls himself "teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth" (1 Timothy 2:7). Every Bible-believing church has teachers. Nobody thinks that breaks Matthew 23. The same logic applies to "father."
3. St. Paul calls himself a father
"I am writing you this not to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. Even if you should have countless guides to Christ, yet you do not have many fathers, for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel" (1 Corinthians 4:14–15).
Again: "we treated each one of you as a father treats his children" (1 Thessalonians 2:11). Onesimus is the one "whose father I have become" (Philemon 1:10). St. Paul knew Jesus' teaching. He saw no conflict.
4. The first Christians called others "father"
St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, addressed the Jewish council: "My brothers and fathers, listen" (Acts 7:2). That is direct address of religious leaders as "fathers." St. Paul greeted a Jerusalem crowd the same way (Acts 22:1). St. John addressed some of his readers this way: "I am writing to you, fathers" (1 John 2:13–14).
5. Jesus and St. Paul call Abraham "father"
Jesus told His opponents, "Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day" (John 8:56). In His parable, the rich man cries, "Father Abraham, have pity on me," and Abraham answers, "My child" (Luke 16:24–25). St. Paul calls Abraham "the father of all of us" and adds, "He is our father in the sight of God" (Romans 4:16–17). That is spiritual fatherhood, given to a man by God.
6. Spiritual fathers in the Old Testament
When Elijah was taken up, Elisha "cried out, 'My father! my father!'" (2 Kings 2:12). God said of Eliakim, the royal steward: "He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem" (Isaiah 22:21). The next verse gives him "the key of the House of David," a key text for whether the papacy is biblical. In God's household, authority has always been described as fatherhood.
7. Every fatherhood is named from the Father
St. Paul writes: "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named" (Ephesians 3:14–15). The NABRE note explains that "in the Greek there is wordplay on the word for the Father (patria, patēr)." Human fatherhood is not a rival to God's. It is named after His, and borrowed from it. That is exactly what Matthew 23:9 protects and exactly what the title "Father" confesses: the one Father in heaven shares His fatherhood with those He sends.
Objections Answered
(a) "Jesus said 'call no one father.' Plain words, plain meaning."
At its strongest: Matthew 23:9 has no exceptions, and its setting is religious leaders, exactly what priests are. St. Paul may have described himself as a father, but no one said "Father Paul." Catholics turned a forbidden title into an official one.
Answer: Read with wooden literalism, the verse forbids calling your own dad "father," and almost no one believes that. So everyone interprets. Verse 8 forbids "teacher" just as plainly, and the New Testament keeps using it (Ephesians 4:11; James 3:1). And it isn't true that "father" was only a description. St. Stephen addressed the council directly as "fathers" (Acts 7:2). What Jesus forbids is the Pharisees' pride (Matthew 23:6–7), not a word.
(b) "Calling a priest 'Father' puts a man between me and God."
At its strongest: We have one Father in heaven and "one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human" (1 Timothy 2:5). Jesus said, "you are all brothers" (Matthew 23:8). A special title for clergy builds a class system the Gospel tore down.
Answer: St. Paul's fatherhood didn't compete with God. It came "in Christ Jesus through the gospel" (1 Corinthians 4:15), and its goal was to lead people to "the God who calls you into his kingdom" (1 Thessalonians 2:12). The Church says the same of the priesthood: "Only Christ is the true priest, the others being only his ministers" (CCC 1545). Same logic as why Catholics confess to a priest: God acts, the priest serves. Clericalism is real, and Matthew 23:11 judges it. That calls for humble priests, not for dropping a biblical word. And the objection cuts against its holders: if a title of spiritual fatherhood put a man between us and God, St. Paul would have been guilty of it every time he wrote "I became your father."
The Early Church Agrees
The earliest Christians read Matthew 23 the way the rest of the New Testament reads it. They called their bishops and teachers "father," and the Fathers who preached on Matthew 23 explained why that is no contradiction.
- The Martyrdom of Polycarp (mid-second century): when St. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, confessed his faith in the stadium, even the hostile crowd knew what Christians called him. They shouted, "This is the teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians, and the overthrower of our gods" (12). Notice: both "teacher" and "father," the two titles Matthew 23 names, applied to a disciple of the apostles by the generation that knew him.
- St. Irenaeus of Lyons (Against Heresies, c. AD 180): "For when any person has been taught from the mouth of another, he is termed the son of him who instructs him, and the latter [is called] his father" (4.41.2).
- Clement of Alexandria (Stromata, c. AD 200): "But words are the progeny of the soul. Hence we call those who have instructed us, fathers" (1.1).
- St. John Chrysostom (Homily 72 on Matthew 3, c. AD 390), preaching on this very verse: "And again, 'Call not, father,' ... not that they should not call, but they may know whom they ought to call Father, in the highest sense." (newadvent.org) The command teaches us who is Father in the highest sense. It does not forbid the word.
Conclusion
Jesus never banned a word. He banned pride, and He put every human father and teacher under the one Father in heaven. St. Paul, St. Stephen, and St. John understood that, and they used "father" freely for those who gave life in Christ.
So when a Catholic says "Father," it's not a challenge to God. It's thanks for a man who baptized us, fed us with the Eucharist, and absolved us in Christ's name. If you're Protestant, read Matthew 23 next to 1 Corinthians 4. Both are God's word. They fit together.
Come home. The spiritual fatherhood St. Paul exercised through the Gospel lives on today in the priests of the Catholic Church. Christ did not found many churches. He founded one, on St. Peter and the apostles (Matthew 16:18), and that Church is the Catholic Church. "It is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained" (CCC 816). If you are a baptized Christian, you already share "a certain, although imperfect, communion" with her (CCC 838). Every truth you already hold is a call to the rest of the way. Christ is calling you into the Catholic Church.
Your next step: Come to Mass this Sunday at your local Catholic church. You can find one near you at MassTimes.org. Everyone is welcome; if you're not yet Catholic, pray with us but don't receive Communion yet. When you're ready to become Catholic, call the parish office and ask about OCIA, the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults. They will walk you through every step. Read our guide: How Do I Become Catholic? Not ready yet? Get our free pocket guide below and keep learning.
FAQ
Do Catholics have to call priests "Father"? No. It is a custom of respect, not a doctrine. What matters is honoring God's ministers and keeping God first.
Why is the Pope called "Holy Father"? For the same reason, applied to the chief shepherd. The word "pope" itself comes from an old word for "father."
Did Jesus ever call a man "father"? Yes. He told His opponents, "Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day" (John 8:56).
Sources
Scripture (NABRE, bible.usccb.org): 2 Kings 2:12; Isaiah 22:20–22; Matthew 16:18; Matthew 23:6–12; Luke 16:24–25; John 8:56; Acts 7:2; Acts 22:1; Romans 4:16–17; 1 Corinthians 4:14–15; Ephesians 3:14–15 (with NABRE note); Ephesians 4:11; 1 Thessalonians 2:11–12; 1 Timothy 1:2; 1 Timothy 2:5–7; Philemon 1:10; James 3:1; 1 John 2:13–14.
Catechism of the Catholic Church (vatican.va): 816, 838; 1545; 2214.
Church Fathers (newadvent.org): The Martyrdom of Polycarp 12 (ANF vol. 1); St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.41.2 (ANF vol. 1); Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 1.1 (ANF vol. 2); St. John Chrysostom, Homily 72 on Matthew 3 (NPNF1 vol. 10).