ope was speaking at a theological conference before meeting Germany's top bishop for talks about a new crisis over sexual abuse of children.Nick Hoskinson writes (to the BBC):
I do wonder if the pope does actually know why the celebacy rule was imposed on the Priesthood. 1345 was when it happened. Why, you may ask? A fairly simple answer is MONEY!!!! That is what the church are wanting. What happened was that many older Priests were going to their maker before their wives. Therefore all their wealth was being given to the wife, and not the church. So to counter this terrible iniquity, Priests as they still do take a mistress, not a very bad thing to do, after all it is a natural function in life. Pity so many of them actually believe in celebacy, and turn their attention onto small boys and girls. I know, I was one of them and at 74 years of age still suffer the consequences.
E David writes:
Celibacy of the priesthood is not "biblical". The Council of Trent made it Canon law, and as the Catholic Church has done for over one thousand years, *IT* decided what a Christian is supposed to believe. Many Christians are still unaware of this fact of history. They believe fairy tales invented by Rome. Unfortunately, celibacy of the priesthood is one of those fairy tales and it has led to some great evils, including this problem of sexual abuse of kids. Anyone who has studied the history of the C. Church knows that this problem is not new - it has been going on since the Dark Ages. Does anyone doubt for a moment that there are priests abusing kids even as we speak, and are protected by their superiors? Of course there are.
Alfred Penderel Bright writes:
We already have some married C of E vicars who have converted to Roman Catholicism so in a sense "the cat is out of the bag" already. That said, vocation to the Roman Catholic priesthood has included the vow of celibacy for several centuries and it does mean that Catholic priests can devote all their attention to their parishioners without the added responsibility of a wife and family. Celibacy is also practised by Buddhist monks for much the same reasons of detachment. And let's not forget all the nuns in convents who take their vow of celibacy as part of a voluntary vocation. It is quite clear that those who cannot practise celibacy for whatever reasons should not seek ordination to the Catholic priesthood but they can still fill a vital role as zealous members of the various charitable lay organisations such as St Vincent de Paul.
BluesBerry writes:
Complete celibacy among priests is unnatural. I hate it when anyone, including the Pope, pretends to know what God wants as devotion or entire commitment. How on earth so many people KNOW what God wants is totally beyond me? To me it's the epitome of human arrogance. The writings of the Church fathers clearly show that, in the early Church, married priests were not the accepted norm in the main centers of Alexandria, Antioch and Rome, but marriage was considered a “problem” in the outlying regions. By the 3rd century there were almost no married priests. By the 9th century many bishops and priests were at it again – taking wives and having kids. The church retackled the issue. The problem was not really the marriage; it was the ‘WILLING” OF Church property to priests’ families. A church could go broke with all these kids inheriting church property. In 1123, celibacy was made official. So the official decision had more to do with church property and keeping it within the Church then anything devotional or spiritual.
John Campbell writes:
What a stange and conficting message to send to the people with the srongest faith.You have to be able to deny sex to demonstate faith in your religion. Has it dawned on these wise men of Rome, that if everyone followed this doctrine, they would eventually have no one left to preach to.
Jonathan writes:
Many Catholics are in favour of celibate priests and strongly against homesexuality, because of what is written in the Bible. I suggest that they read Leviticus 21. This states that priests must have perfect bodies and that any people with deformities are not fit to represent God. Yes, this discriminates against disabled people and if Catholics really believe in the Bible being the word of God, Pope John Paul II would have been kicked out of the priesthood long before his death and I doubt if Pope Benedict XVI has a perfect body. If Catholics scream, "No, we can't be prejudiced against disabled priests and we should ignore Leviticus 21", then why can't they ignore sexist and homophobic passages in the Bible and why should all Catholic priests be celibate?
Will writes:
Of course it is a silly idea that priest cannot marry. It dates back to the Dark Ages. By what other road would a person truly understand the nature of suffering unless they get married. I'm sure my wife would agree!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/haveyoursay/2010/03/should_catholic_priests_remain.html
