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"And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your father, which is in heaven" (Matthew 23:9)Jesus is objecting here to the religious leaders of His day being called "father". Does that mean that Catholics are wrong to call their priests "Father"?
Are we to take this verse in its strictest sense, and deny any male human being the title "father"? If we did, we would run into some problems, for Jesus Himself called Abraham (Luke 16:24); Jacob (John 4:12); and David (Mark 11:10) "fathers". He also called male parents in general "fathers" (Matthew 19:29; Lk 11:11).
The difference here is that these men truly are fathers, while the religious leaders of Jesus' day were not truly fathers of their pupils. They claimed that title to exalt themselves, but they didn't deserve it. Jesus objects to their pride, but He has no objection to the title "father" being used for a man who truly is a father, and so truly deserves the title.
Now, one can be a true father either physically or spiritually. St. Paul tells the Corinthians that he is their father through the Gospel:
"For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel" (I Cor 4:15)In 1 Timothy 1:2, St. Paul calls Timothy "My own son in the faith", thus indicating that he is Timothy's father in the faith. In I Thessalonians 2:11 he says "As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children".
So the Bible clearly refers to leaders of the Christian Church as the "fathers" of the people (see also I John 2:13-14). Thus a Catholic priest can be called "Father" because he truly is a spiritual father to his flock. He does not take on the title to put on airs or exalt himself, rather the title describes what he really is.
(Jesus also says in Matthew 23:8 "But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren". "Rabbi" means "teacher", so this would seem to ban Christian leaders from being called "teacher". Yet St. Paul uses the term "teacher" to refer to Christian leaders (Eph 4:11). We must take the whole of God's Word into account, not just one verse!)
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