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"Since the Council of Trullo, in the first millenium, the East has taken the view that celibates should be monastics, and the norm for parishes should be married priests."

Indeed this is the position and it goes even further to say that monastics should beliving completely outside the World in monasteries. In practice, especially here in the States, there are monastics who serve in parishes, but that is relatively rare and resorted to usually when there is a specific need for a priest and when there is no monastery nearby. In the East, monastics are not parish priests, and parish priests are virtually always married, or widowed, men. This is not to say that monastics and monasteries do not interact in some manner with the world around them. In fact, except on the Holy Mountain, monasteries, both for men and for women, seem to have an almost symbiotic relationship with the people and villages around them, but its not in the nature of the relationship between the parish priest and the parishioners. In fact, anything approaching regular attendence at Divine Litrgy in a monastery chapel or church is positively discouraged.

The question of married priests, from what I have read, surfaces at each synod. It is discussed and then dropped. The media, however, view this as a hot topic button and use it to sensationalize their reporting. Take for example, the coverage give to Cardinal Sfeir's remarks on this topic. Here are the headlines from various papers:

Catholic priests look East in vain marriage hope - Gulf Times

Eastern Cardinal sees problems with married priests - USA TOday

Eastern rite Cardinal says married priests would create problems - Tucson Citizen

So what did the Cardinal say on this topic?

Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir warned the Synod of Bishops in Rome on Friday that allowing Roman Catholic priests to marry might resolve the priest shortage but would create new and "equally serious" problems. Married priests have to divert their attention away from their parishes to their wives and children, Sfeir explained, adding that a priest with a family is more difficult to move to a different parish.

Sfeir called celibacy "the precious jewel in the treasure of the Catholic Church" and asked for prayers so the Church can find an "adequate solution" to the priest shortage.

At the end of this synod, this topic will shrivel and die on the vine, just as it has in previous synods.