By CATHOLIC head, Pope Francis, has suggested that the 2,000-year-old celibacy rule of the Catholic Church might be changed.
Francis recently stated that there is “no conflict for a priest to marry” in an interview with the Argentine publication Infobae, claiming that the prohibition on priests engaging in sexual activity is merely “temporary.”
“There is no contradiction for a priest to marry. Celibacy in the western Church is a temporary prescription,” Francis said. “It is not eternal like priestly ordination, which is forever whether you like it or not. On the other hand, celibacy is a discipline.”
In the 11th century, the Catholic Church started enforcing celibacy because clergy without children were more likely to donate their estates to the church.
Pope Francis suggested that the 2,000-year-old celibacy rule of the Catholic Church might be modified.
The Vatican forbids priests from having sexual relations, despite pressure to do so.
Catholics in Germany have approved a resolution urging Pope Francis to lift the celibacy rule for priests.
The Pope responded when asked if he thought the prohibition on priests having sex should be lifted “Everyone in the Eastern Church is married, or those who want to. Before ordination, there is the choice to marry or to be celibate.”
Francis mentioned that he had spoken with an Eastern Catholic priest who serves in the Rome Curia and who had a wife and son before the interview with journalist Daniel Hadad.
According to Pope Francis, there is “no contradiction for a priest to marry” and the prohibition on priests engaging in sexual activity is just “temporary.”
Nonetheless, his comments show a divergence from what he has previously said about celibacy.
In 2019, Francis said, “Personally, I think that celibacy is a gift to the Church. I would say that I do not agree with allowing optional celibacy.”
At the time, he added that he thought there might be certain “pastoral necessity” exceptions for married clergy in the Latin rite in rural areas with few priests.
The Pope recently discussed the soaring divorce rate in more detail during an interview with Hadad, noting that young people sometimes marry too young and that their unions are meaningless. On annulments, he stated that he considers the comments made by his predecessor Benedict XVI.
2019 saw Pope Francis declare his opposition to the idea of voluntary celibacy.
“A large part of church marriages are invalid for lack of faith,” Francis said. “Sometimes one goes to a wedding, and it seems more like it’s a social reception and not a sacrament. When young people say forever, who knows what they mean by forever.”
“A very wise lady once told me: ‘You priests are very smart. To be ordained priests you have to spend six, seven years in the seminary. On the other hand, to get married, which is for a lifetime — because a priest can leave, on the other hand, for us it is for a lifetime— they give us four meetings,’” he continued.
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