How many bishops RIGHT NOW are actually homosexuals where someone's "got the goods," and thus, these bishops don't act all that bishoply? One wonders when one sees a good and decent priest publicly punished for denying Holy Communion to self-professed Buddhist lesbians whether the punishing bishop has something to hide.
Hence my suspicions about the USCCB-funded John Jay report's "reponse" categories, above, in post #3
The core issue here is the POLICIES of the Catholic Church.
In Eastern Europe and the Middle East Catholic priests have always been permitted to marry.
In 1929, the Vatican actually passed a decree which prohibited married Greek Catholic priests from relocating to the United States.
What were they worried about? That American Catholics would discover there is nothing wrong with priests being allowed to marry?
The Catholic Church’s policy of mandatory clerical celibacy was a factor in causing the Great Schism in 1054 between the Catholic and Orthodox Church and it was also a factor which caused the Protestant Reformation in Western Europe in the 1500s and 1600s.
There is NOTHING in the Bible which requires priests to be celibate. To the contrary, 1 Timothy 3:2 permits a married clergy. Priests in the Bible were in fact expected to be married. The Lord commands us to be fruitful and multiply. Even the Pope has recently stated that celibacy is not part of Church dogma and is subject to change.