Vatican synod rules out married priests

Australian Associated Press (AAP) ^ | October 23, 2005 | Unattributed

[gpapa]

A synod of Catholic bishops has clearly reaffirmed priestly celibacy and ruled out allowing clergy to marry as a solution to the crisis of vocations facing the church worldwide.

The working sessions of the three-week synod, the first of Pope Benedict XVI's papacy, closed with 50 propositions and a message to the world from the more than 250 bishops.

Overall, the synod's decisions have dashed the hopes of some liberal Catholics for movement on issues such as married priests, celibacy and the divorced faithful.

[Hound of the Baskervilles]

"Catholics of all stripes should demand that the Pope take real action toward cleaning up this situation. It's true that I'm not Catholic, but I think the Church would be better off if they changed the rules. IMHO, celebacy is one tradition that has outlived it's usefulness for the priesthood."

I can respect this well stated opinion! It would be fine with me if the rules were changed and priests were allowed to marry. However there are good reasons for priestly celibacy too. Celibacy does not equal pedophilia or homosexuality. If celibacy is still the requirement then they are going to have to be very very particular and watchful in the screening process. Which is why there was an article about a week ago that talked about how the Vatican said there would be no homosexuals allowed in the priesthood. If I am not mistaken previously liberal seminaries were admitting celibate homosexuals to the seminaries. Now NO homosexual are admitted. Something like that (I am not quite sure.)

[rbg81]

If I am not mistaken previously liberal seminaries were admitting celibate homosexuals to the seminaries. Now NO homosexual are admitted. Something like that (I am not quite sure.)

I wouldn't trust these liberal seminaries to follow even the Pope's dictates on their own. Many will probably have to be put under new management to make sure strict standards are actually enforced.

A few months ago I saw an TV interview with a Catholic seminary novice who had dropped out. According the him, the primary reason was due to harrassment because he wasn't gay (like the other novices). Don't know if that's true or just sour grapes, but stories like that should be fully investigated by Rome.