Replies

It has been, but it hasn't been for the whole history of the church. Half the history of the church has been married clergy, and the clergy in the beginning were married. Peter had his wife – the first Apostle. So, it's never been a restrictor for a long time within the church.

There's two sides to this coin: half the history of the Church has been celibate clergy as St. Paul proclaimed the beauty of it.

There are several hurdles that these priests cannot jump:
1. The defining vow of a priest is obedience to the Magesterium, not celibacy.

2. Priests are in persona Christi. Thus, as Christ was celibate, and preached that it is better to sacrifice this desire for the sake of the Kingdom, it is logical then that if a priest truly desires to fulfill his role as much as possible, being in persona Christi, and sacrifice the whole of his life for the sake of the kingdom it is necessary for him to be celibate.

There are no theological or spiritual "pro's" that these priests can offer for being married. The best they can offer is "well, its been done in the past" and this leads me to seriously question their intent and their commitment to both Christ and His Church.

All believers are called to be Christlike, not just clergy. Does this mean that all believers should try for celibacy? No. This would violate the Lord's command to "Be fruitful and multiply". Furthermore, the qualifications for ministry as deacon, priest or bishop include being married to one woman and having a good family (1st Timothy 3).

If priests must be single because Jesus was single, then it logically follows that priests must also be Jewish, in their 30's and without higher education.

Rome should seriously look at bringing back (not introducing) the policy still followed in Orthodox churches- that is that married men may become deacons and priests, but deacons and priests may not get married. In another words, the marriage must occur before ordination to the deaconate.