In the Old Testament Times, Priests sacrificed once yearly. During that time of Temple Service they were bound to the rule of continence, i.e., they had to live apart from their wives and forego the marital act.
New Testaments Priests offer the Sacrifice daily, ergo, perpetual continence/celibacy.
It is my opinion all the inertia is in the direction of maintaining the Ancient Discipline of Continence/Celibacy which is of Apostolic Origins (SeeThe Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy by Christian Cochini).
Is it possible a Melkite Patriarch is more influential than a know-it-all layman?
"Is it possible a Melkite Patriarch is more influential than a know-it-all layman?"
Let me try this one....
Yup!
"New Testaments Priests offer the Sacrifice daily, ergo, perpetual continence/celibacy."
I think this is the biggest single factor in the different traditions that developed in East and West. The Sacrifice wasn't normally offered daily in the East with the result that priests only had to observe continence in the three days leading up to Sunday.
With the development of Mass being offered on a daily basis in the West, the issue of a celibate or perpetually continent priesthood took on much greater urgency.
"It is my opinion all the inertia is in the direction of maintaining the Ancient Discipline of Continence/Celibacy which is of Apostolic Origins (SeeThe Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy by Christian Cochini).
Is it possible a Melkite Patriarch is more influential than a know-it-all layman?"
While you may be correct that this view is strengthening in those parts of the Catholic Church that could be considered either conservative or traditional, I am not so sure that this equates to "all the inertia".
In the rarified environments of FR and other conservative internet fora, its easy to assume that the good guys are gaining the upper hand and are far more significant in numbers than is really the case. I'm afraid the reality remains that most bishops:
a) haven't read a theology manual since they left seminary
b) haven't heard of Christian Cochini
c) if they had, would assume that he was a conservative Vatican "stooge" and dismiss him faster than they could drop their undergarments in a public convenience.
"Is it possible a Melkite Patriarch is more influential than a know-it-all layman?"
Well, as it was his predecessor who extracted the Latin Permanent Diaconate out of Paul VI, I would say that Gregory III, at least, certainly thinks so.