Priesthood celibacy is not a 2000 year tradition. Male-only priesthood is indeed a dogma of the church, but celibacy is a regulation or policy that could more easily change. Priesthood celibacy was in fact rejected at the Council of Nicea in AD 325. It did not become official policy until the Second Lateran Council in AD 1139. The present-day policy of clerical celibacy dates back to the Council of Trent in AD 1563.
Prior to the complete ban in 1139, policies appeared to be more about protecting church property than ensuring an unmarried priesthood. Canon 33 in AD 305 forbade priests from having sexual relations with their wives and begetting children, but not from entering into marriage. Priests were still getting married in the 11th century when Pope Benedict VIII issued a decree stating that the children of priests could not inherit property from their fathers.
The precedent is with Christ who called MEN to be his apostles and the first Bishops.
I’ll believe Jesus before anyone else.
“Female deacons and even priests don’t bother me. There is precedence in the early church.”
Really? When Jesus ordained the first priests with “Do this in memory of me”, who were the females present? He decided the issue of a male priesthood; History Channel “specials” pretending Mary Magdalene was an early pope are fabrications.