Comment & Debate
Oliveiro Vernie. “Should Catholic priests be allowed to marry?”. Times Online. October 11, 2005: “It is ridiculous to bar a man from becoming or being a priest simply because he has happened to fall deeply in love with a woman.”
Rev. Donald Cozzens. “Commentary: Celibacy should be rethought”. CNN. May 15, 2009: “the most human, existential factor that should keep the celibacy issue on the table is the spiritual and emotional health of priests. Celibacy really isn’t the issue — mandatory or obligatory celibacy is. […] There are many priests who do possess the gift of celibacy — it is their “truth” so to speak — and their humanity, warmth and pastoral effectiveness give abundant evidence of their authentic celibate lives. But there remain other priests who believe deep down they are called to the priesthood but not to celibacy. And for these men, the burden of mandated celibacy threatens their spiritual and emotional well-being. The priesthood may be their “truth,” but mandated celibacy wraps them in a cloak of loneliness and struggle. […] I wonder if church officials understand the burden they place on the shoulders of a man who believes he is called to priestly ministry but not to celibacy. Certainly, a married priesthood will have burdens of its own and, sadly, scandals of its own — infidelity and abuse among others. But it should be left to the individual priest and seminarian to determine whether or not he is blessed with the gift of celibacy.”