[oyez]

The church's teaching on celibacy came hundreds of years after the Bible was composed.

Informed, aren't we? Where do you get your information?

[Steve_Seattle]

"Informed, aren't we? Where do you get your information?"

I've seen in numerous sources - including Catholic ones - that it was centuries after the gospels were written that mandatory priestly celibacy was imposed, largely for reasons already described by previous posters. Conservative Catholics do not even dispute this. This is not to deny that - from the earliest days - celibacy was admired and practiced by some members of the church; but it was not a requirement for the priesthood.