[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

How do you feel about priests marrying and having families?

Personally, or what the Church teaches?

If I could have been a married priest, I would have become a priest. But...

In Scripture, Jesus and St. Paul make it clear that the celibate state is greater than the married state, for those that are called to it. I was torn, myself, but I wanted children more than anything.

As NYer said, Eastern Rite Catholic priests are allowed to marry. But their priests must be married prior to being ordained, and bishops cannot be married. At least that's what I remember. Also, there are some married priests in the Latin Rite. John Paul II exempted married Anglican priest converts from the Latin Rite discipline.

And since it is a discipline, it can change over time, for pastoral and prudential reasons, and it has.

[stonehouse01]

see also my reply post #52 to grania - we seem to be generally on the same page ...

[knarf]

Paul never ruled out a married priest ... he just said he would rather men called would be like him ... but if they couldn't contain ... control themselves ... it was best to marry.

No addendum as to whether they should not be clergy or not.