[Jaysun]

Could it be, as some have asserted, that celibacy was decided as a practical matter (kind of like fish on Friday) by the Church because having to support entire families instead of single Priest was too much of a financial burden?

I don't mean to be disrespectful, I think it's a legitimate question and I'm genuinely curious in your opinions.

I'm not Catholic, but I know that they have a lot of things right, such as not allowing women to serve as Priest - that's Biblical. But the Catholic Church is constantly attacked on a variety of fronts, including celibacy, and this is one front in which I wonder if the attackers might not have a point.

[Miss Marple]

Speaking as a former Protestant who converted to Catholicism, I note that Catholics don't have the gossip about what the minister's wife is doing or wearing, nor the concern about children of ministers who are misbehaving at school, etc. etc. The priest is only responsible for his own behavior.

This is a plus, and while it sounds rather practical and not theological, the priest, as one through whose hands Christ's presence comes to us in the Eucharist, seems to me to be looked at more as God's representative merely than someone who gives a sermon every Sunday.

[bornacatholic]

The Old Testament priests, even though married, had to be continent during the one a year time they served in the Temple offering Sacrifice. That is, they had to live apart from their wives and abstain from sexual congress.

> As Priests offer the Sacrifice Daily, perpetual continence/celibacy is demanded as a discipline.

In his Decretals, Pope Siricuis cited The Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy and referenced waht I just noted. The Decretals were issued in 385 AD.

THe Decretals of Pope Siricius made it clear he was not instituing a new policy but referencing an ancient discipline that came from the Apostles themselves and he demanded all return to the Apostolic Practice