Comment & Debate
Rev. Donald Cozzens. “Commentary: Celibacy should be rethought”. CNN. May 15, 2009: “More and more Catholics today are coming to understand that celibacy as a universal law for priests had its origins in the 12th century and that during the church’s first millennium, priests and bishops — and at least thirty-nine popes — were married.
Still, most well-read cradle Catholics are surprised to learn that St. Anastasius, pope from 399 to 401, was succeeded by his son, Pope St. Innocent I, and that a century later Pope St. Hormisdas’ son, St. Silverius, also was elected to the papacy.
Even in our secular world, it’s common to speak of church-based ministry as a calling, a vocation. Isn’t it possible that God would call an individual to the priesthood and to the sacrament of marriage? God apparently did so for more than half the church’s history. How do we know that God isn’t doing so today?”
“Should Catholic Priests Be Allowed to Marry?”. ABC. November 16, 2005: “As foreign as the concept may seem today, the first pope, St. Peter, was married.
Catholic priests were allowed to be married until the 12th century.”
Joseph Snyder, Alexandria. “Should Roman Catholic Priests Be Allowed to Marry?”. Washington Post, Letter to the Editor. November 7, 2004 “some of the 12 apostles were married. So what is the problem?”