From:The Life of Fr. De Smet, Apostle of the Rockies:
“With his soul inundated with joy, Father De Smet thanked God for having chosen him to be the instrument of His designs. “I believe firmly in the hundredfold promised by Our Saviour. What we have given up in this world is as nothing compared to what we have found and experienced in the wilderness.
How is the phenomenal success of these missions to be explained? Many of the Indians possessed admirable natural virtues; they but needed to know Christianity to embrace it. Even the most degraded had preserved a high ideal of the greatness of the power of God. Blasphemy was unknown among them: not presuming to address the “Great Spirit,” they entreated their manitous to intercede for them. Superstition if you will, but beneath it was a religious sentiment which the missionary had only to enlighten and direct. None held back through false pride or prejudice. Even the Sioux, the proudest of the Western tribes, compared themselves to children bereft of a father’s guiding hand, and to the ignorant animals of the prairie, and with touching humility begged the missionary to “take pity on them.”
Such elevated, upright souls could, moreover, appreciate the chastity of the Catholic priesthood. With rare discernment, the Indian understood that, belonging as he does to all men, a priest cannot give himself to one person, and not for an instant did they hesitate to choose the Black Robe, who had consecrated his life to them, rather than the minister in lay dress, installed in a comfortable home with wife and children, devoted to the interests of his family, giving only the time that remained to distributing Bibles” .
Been there and done that. And who said anyone wanted married priests?
Have you shared your thoughts on that subject with the Pope? He seems to disagree with that position.