Paul NEVER states celibacy as a requirement for service in the priesthood. No one in the Bible does require such a mandate. This is a Church requirement, not a Biblical requirement.
I think you and I are talking over each other, unfortunately.
I think you seem to agree with me that there is no mandatory celibacy requirement for service in the priesthood. Right?
The fact that Paul is unmarried at the time he wrote the passage is neither here nor there. He is an older man at the time he wrote it. We know nothing about Paul’s personal or family life. He could have been a widower. He could have been divorced. We don’t know. So I won’t speculate. Nearly all men in the Jewish priestly class were expected to be married. In fact all Jewish men in that era were expected to be married and have families. You were considered an outcast if you weren’t. Or maybe you had a contagious disease like leprosy.
Paul never suggests his way is the only way and he has no trouble with married men serving in the clergy.