Australian priests urge Vatican to end celibacy

[emad]

Globe & Mail
Associated Press

Sydney, Australia — Roman Catholic priests in Australia have urged the Vatican to overturn a centuries-old ban on married clergy to help boost recruitment of new priests, a report said Wednesday.

Australia's National Council of Priests wrote to the Vatican's Synod of Bishops last month arguing that marriage should not be a barrier to ordination and asking the church to consider readmitting priests who had left the clergy to marry, the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper said Wednesday.

The council, which includes about half of Australia's 1,649 Roman Catholic clergy, asked the Vatican in the letter to “examine honestly the appropriateness of insisting upon a priesthood that is, with very few exceptions, obliged to be celibate,” it said.

“Priesthood is a gift, celibacy is a gift,” the council wrote. “They are not the same gift.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050126.wcath0126/BNStory/International/

[htuttle]

1. It's an outdated, politically-based policy anyway

As I understand it, they started requiring priests to be celibate back in the middle ages to prevent priests from being able to pass property down to an heir. With celibate priests, the Church would be the only party eligible to inherit the priests' estates.

I'd think that shouldn't be such a worry nowdays.

[MHalblaub]

2. In the UK are around 120 married catholic priests.

According to The Times, London, 228 former priests of the Church of England changed to the Catholic Church. Among them were 120 married even some with a community.

As the crudest case was mentioned a catholic priest removed from his community because of a girlfriend replaced by a married priest with children.

[infusionman]

3. This will never happen...

Because once it does, then the church is gonna have to shell out all kinds of money in health care benefits for Dependants of priests.

Right now, they need all the money they can get to pay for their sins of sexual abuse.