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With a new pope on the way, Britain's most influential Catholic says the Vatican should let priests marry and have families, the Guardian reports. Spurning Catholic orthodoxy, Cardinal Keith O'Brien said that "many priests have found it very difficult to cope with celibacy," which "is obviously not of divine of origin." O'Brien, a semi-retired cardinal who plans to step down as head of Scotland's Roman Catholic Church, will be Britain's only Catholic involved in choosing Benedict's successor at the Vatican next month.
Not that I have a dog in this fight, but as a smart Rabbi once commented: "What's the point in running an organization where you systematically keep the brightest minds from procreating?"
The Catholic Church is starting to have a shortage of priests and if they want to continue they will either have to allow women or allow married men to become priests. As it is now there is a loophole where a priest who was a minister of another religion converts and is married then he can stay married. There is a church not far from me where the priest is married.
With a new pope on the way, Britain's most influential Catholic says the Vatican should let priests marry and have families, the Guardian reports. Spurning Catholic orthodoxy, Cardinal Keith O'Brien said that "many priests have found it very difficult to cope with celibacy," which "is obviously not of divine of origin." O'Brien, a semi-retired cardinal who plans to step down as head of Scotland's Roman Catholic Church, will be Britain's only Catholic involved in choosing Benedict's successor at the Vatican next month.
Ah yes, Cardinal O'Brien ...... who has just been accused of 'inappropriate behavior'. Hilarious that the 'anti-gay' Cardinal might just be gay himself.
Can anyone give a Biblical reason for priests to be celibate?
When did this celibate idea come about?
Celibacy isn't biblical. Initially priests were married. Unfortunately for the Roman Church when said priests died, their estate was left to their families, not the church. The pope at the time took exception to this and decreed that in the future priests could no longer marry, that way when they die their estates went to the church, not a spouse.
Can anyone give a Biblical reason for priests to be celibate?
When did this celibate idea come about?
One theory was that Jesus wasn't married, nor were most of his disciples, Paul writes about its "joys" in Corinthians. Interestingly Peter, the father of the Catholic church was married. However, I think celibacy was mandated in the mid-1100's.
As an Anglican, I simply do not understand the RC problem with a married clergy. We've surely demonstrated its feasibility, these last five hundred years.
This is more appropriate for the religion forum. Laws and politics in sovereign nations really don't have an affect on the Vatican and its policies. I will say however its a step in the right direction for the church. Nowhere in the Bible is marriage forbidden to the clergy. It's entirely a man-made rule.
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