Oh, that's true, for sure. My best friend in the seminary is now the Vice-Rector at the seminary I attended in Dallas. He says that they teach the upsides, and downsides, of celibacy, which is more than he and I got back in the early 70s.
But, even he admits that the caliber of men at Holy Trinity is nowhere near the guys who were in seminary with us. They were smarter, worked harder, and were just psychologically more balanced.
Many of us tried the seminary because we thought God was calling us. It turns out that He was calling me to marriage, but also to ministry, though the permanent diaconate wasn't even in existence then.
You and I will not agree on this, likely, but I believe that mandatory celibacy is depriving the Church of some fantastic men who would be outstanding and dedicated priests.
Let him accept it who can, the words of our Lord, should be the guiding principle here.
Quite possibly, but these men now have the Permanent Diaconate to which they can turn. The only problem with the PD from what I've seen is the reluctance of some Bishops to actually give them something to DO!! My late f-i-l and my b-i-l (sister's husband) were both ordained PDs.
My Daddy in law was in a Diocese where the Bishop, and his own Pastor, didn't use the Deacons in any meaningful way, so he was continually frustrated My b-i-l, on the other hand, in the other Diocese in the state, has been doing good work since he was ordained. He worked in my b-i-l's (Sir SuziQ's brother) Parish for many years. He has been the Coordinator of the Diaconate program for his Diocese in MS the last few years. He has made sure that these men are doing important work that is worthy of their time, efforts and sacrifice. And it IS a sacrifice, as you well know, of time away from family in cases where the Bishop is serious about the program. Fortunately, for him, his Bishop has always been supportive of the program, especially the new, younger Bishop appointed a few years ago.