[Secret Agent Man]

This has been the issue destroying the priesthood of the RCC for as long as its been mandated. Nowhere is there a command to be celibate in order to be a church leader. It is an RCC imposed requirement with zero backing of scripture.

Pauls discussion of it refers to his saying if you can avoid sexual lusts good for you and you should do so, it will be better for you, but if you cant its better to be married and have a god-blessed outlet for it. Not in the context of leaders of the church must be celibate or else they cant be leaders or priests or whatever.

[MichaelCorleone]

I think you are right as far as what Scripture says, in particular St. Paul.

But in my years of seeing different Christian religions such as Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, it seems to me that having a wife and children is often a distraction that keeps the clergy from doing work in their chosen field.

Anyone who has a family knows how difficult it can be to perform at the job, especially when those inevitable challenging times arise with the nuclear AND extended family. Let’s not forget the in-laws!

My point is while there is no obvious ‘command’ to the contrary, the Church is better served with an unmarried Priest - as long as the Priest can handle the ‘biological tension’ (if you get my meaning).

[Alberta's Child]

This has been the issue destroying the priesthood of the RCC for as long as its been mandated.

Baloney. In fact, traditional Catholic orders like the Society of St. Pius X and the Fraternity of St. Peter can't even accommodate all of the vocations they have for the priesthood. The SSPX is building a massive new seminary in Virginia as we speak ... even as regular parishes are withering away.

A return to Catholic tradition will do far more to correct the problem of vocations to the priesthood than any of the zany ideas we've seen over the years.

P.S. -- I've seen reports suggesting that priestly celibacy was a major reason why the Catholic Church survived (and even thrived) behind the Iron Curtain when every other Christian denomination basically became arms of totalitarian governments. It's much easier for an authoritarian government to force a priest or bishop to capitulate when he has a wife and family to worry about.

[PCPOET7]

the original reason for celiibet priests was the fact that a priest would appropriate church property and the when he died the family would keep the property so at some point the priesthood who was already practicing celibacy with a majority of the priest hood decided to make it a requirement......this what I read don’t know if it is true.

[Arthur McGowan]

Why does an anti-Catholic care one way or the other?

[Old Yeller]

This has been the issue destroying the priesthood of the RCC for as long as its been mandated.

I have read that catholic seminaries are teaming with homos. This way nobody questions why they have no interest in marriage or women. It's a great cover for them without having to openly come out of the closet and disappoint their parents.