[metmom]

Whatever happened to that tradition?

This?

http://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct24.html

CANON X. -If any one saith, that the marriage state is to be placed above the state of virginity, or of celibacy, and that it is not better and more blessed to remain in virginity, or in celibacy, than to be united in matrimony; let him be anathema.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

This?

CANON X. -If any one saith, that the marriage state is to be placed above the state of virginity, or of celibacy, and that it is not better and more blessed to remain in virginity, or in celibacy, than to be united in matrimony; let him be anathema.

I don't understand what your point is.

Both Jesus and St. Paul commend celibacy, and would be in agreement with this canon, wouldn't they?

So... What are you trying to say about the topic of the thread?

Bishops have always been celibate, in all Catholic Rites, AFAIK. Both celibate men, and men married prior to ordination, have been admitted to the priesthood to varying degrees, in all Rites, since the earliest times.

There are even some married priests in the Latin ("Roman") Rite today. Most are Anglican priests who converted.