Posted on 05/19/2014 3:42:16 PM PDT by windcliff
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Twenty-six women who say they are in love with Roman Catholic priests have written to Pope Francis urging him to make celibacy optional.
The women, who all live in Italy, described the "devastating suffering" caused by the church's ban on priests having sex and marrying.
"We love these men and they love us," they said in their letter published on the authoritative website Vatican Insider.
"With humility, we place at your feet our suffering so that something can change, not just for us but for the good of the whole Church," they added in the message, signed with their first names and an initial of their last names, but with several phone numbers.
Priestly celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church, while not a unchangeable dogma, is a tradition going back more than 1,000 years.
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In recent decades the Vatican has come under pressure to make celibacy optional and allow priests to marry, with supporters saying that this would help ease the acute shortage of priests in many areas.
The women asked the pope to "bless our love," adding that few people could understand the "devastating suffering lived by a woman who has a strong love for a priest".
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How would priests marrying women stop them from raping little boys? The issue with that is not marriage, but infiltration of the church by the lavender mafia.
Have you not read what Jesus says?
[His] disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” [Jesus] answered, “Not all can accept [this] word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.” (Matt. 19:10-12)Celibacy is praised by Jesus Christ himself.
Which contemporary bible are you quoting? It sounds like some catholic add ons were added here disguised as quotes from Jesus. I would like a link to this.
It's the New American Bible. Here is the same passage from the King James:
His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.If you want, I can also give passages from Paul. While all are not called to celibacy, you cannot deny that it is praised in the Bible.
That puts a different meaning on it. I will leave what the priests did to kids to God.
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