[exnavy]

Ask God.

[Warren]

It's always been optional.
Do they really think most were truly celibate?
Don't ask, don't tell.

[KJMorgan]

They would not be preoccupied with their own sexual tensions...

Obviously a bachelor!

[Billthedrill]

In light of the ubiquity of sexual pressures it is becoming harder and harder for men to choose celibacy for life...

I didn't choose celibacy. It chose me.

While the author is correct that the early Church did not require celibacy, it was certainly not for the reason that seems to be advanced here - sexual imagery is ubiquitous and men are weak. I've heard that argument advanced to rationalize adultery, too, usually just before the sound of a frying pan striking a cranium...

[Fee]

Check the scripture on what are the qualifications of a minister should be. One of the qualifications is that he must be a man of one wife. Ministers were meant to marry because he is a man, designed by God to have desires to reproduce. To reinforce this allowance for marriage, another qualification for ministers is that he must have good control and upbringing of his family. The Catholic belief that a married priest can not administer to his church is not accurate. Being head of a family and dealing with a spouse/children actually gives the minister insight that unmarried ministers do not have. It makes the minister more effective in understanding his church members of whom most will be married. Otherwise the Bible will explicitly forbid ministers to marry. I don't know what the historical theological reasoning the Catholic Church used to forbid marriage, but it runs in my opinion contrary to the Bible scriptures.

[ikanakattara]

The Eastern Catholic churches (in union with Rome) and the Eastern Orthodox churches both allow married men to be ordained. Married men were ordained in the Western (Latin) branch of the Catholic Church until the 11th century. An unmarried priesthood has *never* been part of the doctrinal core of the Church; instead, it is a *disciplinary rule* that can be changed. It's time for the Latin church to start ordaining married men, just as we have permanent deacons who are married men. In fact, some of those permanent deacons might very well want to continue their seminary education and be ordained as priests.

[johnny7]

Call me old-fashioned but I think the rule of celibacy in the Catholic Church should stay.

If a priest or nun should choose to have relations with a consenting adult, that is their own business.They made a vow and if they break it they have to live with it.

The problem comes from priests who prey on boys! They should be treated like pedophiles because they prefer children over adults.

The priest in MA is a perfect example. If he was a librarian or a teacher he would still prefer young boys.

Don't change religious traditions because of a perverted sickness. Get rid of the problem quickly and permanently.

If this priest in MA is not put away till hell freezes over, he will do it again and again.

[sinkspur]

Ordaining married Catholic men will obviously enlarge the candidate pool and allow men with different life experiences to minister.

The experiment with married episcopal priests who've converted has, from all appearances, been an overwhelming success.

It would be nice if the American Catholic Church didn't have to take whatever comes along (as long as the guy's single) for this sacred ministry.