It is certainly sophistry in light of the fact that neither the Bible nor the ancient church held to the unholy tradition of the RC denomination. To place requirements on God’s undershepherds other than what we find in Holy Scripture contributes in large measure to the sexual immorality rampant among the RC clergy.
I never said the Bible requires celibacy of priests. That is a disciplinary rule, which the legitimate authority in the Church is entitled to adopt. What I am saying is the objective truth, which even you Protestants cannot deny if you are honest, that there is in both Scripture and Tradition a strong positive value placed on the witness of the evangelical counsel of chastity and its purest form, celibacy. Our Lord, the Apostles Paul and John, and countless saints have pursued this holy course, which you Protestants sneer at and have tossed out the window, and denigrate by saying that no one can remain celibate, which is pure falsehood. An ancient disclipline in the Church favoring celibacy for clergymen led to the disciplinary rule of celibacy for bishops in the Eastern rites and for bishops and priests in the Western rite. These are ancient disciplinary rules, not doctrinal, but they express strong Christian values found in tradition and are important for the Church, not the least in this sex-saturated modern culture. Breaches of vows of celibacy deserve discipline, and that has been too little forthcoming, but that doesn't mean one should toss out the baby with the bathwater by eliminating this most holy discipline for the clergy.