why catholics call their priests 'father'

Catholics call their priests 'father' to portary the intimacy and love they have for them. Various people call priest in distinct ways; a people in greece call a priest 'papa'; some places in Russia calls a priest 'Batiushka'; all these are to show endearment and intimacy.
the calling of priest 'father' shows the relationship that the church have with their leader.
on the day we were born into our family, we began calling the man/husband of the house 'father'; he, our biological father, instantly begins to care for us by providing food, clothes, shelter and advice. In the same way, the day we receive our baptism, marks our second birth; it is the priest who plays the role of our father at this birth; he, like our biological father, also plays the role of nurturing us in our spiritual life. recall John 3:3-5 were Jesus admonishes Nicodemus of the second birth.

Catholics do not call their priest 'father' because of their higher status in the community of believers but because of the role they play in our spiritual life. Priest in turn emulate the apostles by calling their members 'sons', 'child','children'. Gal. 4:19, portrays this fact. Also, 1Jn. 2:13-14, refers to us as children calls others fathers.

Today, the bone of contestion is that Jesus said in Matthew 23:9-10 that we should call no man father and master. If we read that passage carefully, we see that Jesus was condeming the pharisees and scribes who were proud, hypocrytical, do not practice what they preach, exalt themselves and would put themselves and would put themselves in the place of God. of course, the special honour that should be given to God alone should not be given to man. Catholics do not think or see their priest as God the father and when we use the term 'father', it is never meant to be used in that way. If we read verses 12-29, you see Jesus stating the misfortune the pharisees and scribes. In verses 30-32, Jesus himself uses the word 'father' to refer to our ancestors. Is this a contradiction to the earlier statement? No. The statement was a parable to condemn the pharisees and scribes publicly.

In our various homes, we have the head of the family and we call them father and at school, we call those that teaches us teacher which also means 'rabbi' in jewish religion. Our pentecostal brothers call their Sunday school instructors and their pastors as teachers and daddy respectively. Even the apostles of christ called him 'Rabbi'. Does it contradict Jesus' words?

By the way, what did god say in exodus 20:12? He sais, "honour your father and mother, so that your days will be long on earth". In the new testament, we have six(6) books which shows us that jewish or christian leaders can be addressed by this title. In 1Thesselonia 2:11, Paul places himself and other apostles as our spiritual father. Remember the story of Lazarus and the rich man, were abraham is refered to as our father.
Historically, the word 'father' as used for priests today, can be traced to the father in the family. As a matter of fact, priesthood and fatherhood are related. A close examination of the old and new testament shows that 'father' is a title applied to God, to ancestors of israel, to fathers of families, to jewish leaders, to christian leaders and even to the devil (the father of lies)

During the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, otherwise refered to as the patriach days, the priestly function (such as offering sacrifice) were carried out by the father of the family. In the case of an extended family or a small village, the head of the family or the leader performs such priestly role. At this time, there was no official priesthood. The priesthood was the head of the family. Priesthood was therefore associated with fatherhood. Even after the patriarch period to the levitical priesthood (sons of Levi, Aaron, Moses etc), the association of fatherhood and priesthood is still found, we can see this in judges 17:10 where Micah told a traveller from Bethlehem, Judah to stay with him and become his father and priest. At a time, god asked Moses that all first born should be dedicated to him so that they will be priest.

In the old testament, the first person to be mentioned as a priest is Melchizedek (Gen. 14:17-20). It is the priesthood of Melchizedek that resembles the modern day priesthood, for he offered bread and wine just like Jesus did. Melchizedek is again mentioned in Psalm 110:4 and also in the book of Hebrew.

Dear friends, it is now obvious that Jesus was not condenming the word 'father' but of giving honour, worship and adoration to someone that is not God.