![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/priests-celibacy-642x350.jpg\")
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Pope Francis has hinted that he would review the centuries-long requirement of celibacy for priests in the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n
He spoke in an interview with Spanish news outlet Infobae to mark the 10-year anniversary of his election as pope.<\/p>\n
He described celibacy as an individual “discipline” and “temporary prescription” in the church.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no contradiction for a priest to marry,” the pontiff said. “Celibacy in the western church is a temporary prescription.”<\/p>\n
Celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church or western church has been a mandate since the 11th century. Before that priests were required to take a vow of abstinence.<\/p>\n
According to the church, the discipline of celibacy is the priestly commitment not to marry, following the practice of Jesus.<\/p>\n
For at least a thousand years the matter remained controversial in the church.<\/p>\n
In recent years, it has been an oft-debated topic for a number of reasons. Some argue that it deters men from joining the priesthood which contributes to the shortage of priests in many countries. The other reason has to do with the sexual abuse scandal that has tarnished the church with some people suggesting that a married priest would not likely to harbor child abusers or be abusers themselves.<\/p>\n
Pope Francis, like countless of his predecessors, has always defended priestly celibacy in the church.<\/p>\n
In January 2019, he made clear his belief on the matter, stressing that \u201ccelibacy is a gift to the church\u201d and he does not think it should be made optional. He added that \u201cthere could be some possibility\u201d of ordaining married men in remote locations, but even that would require further study.<\/p>\n
But there have been movements within the church itself on the issue such as the recent vote by the German Catholic Church to request that the pope end the requirement.<\/p>\n
When asked by the Infobae reporter whether he would reconsider the celibacy issue, Francis appeared to soften his stance on it.<\/p>\n
“Yes. Yes,” he replied, while pointing to the Eastern Rite of the church which allows married priests.<\/p>\n
“In fact everyone in the eastern church is married. Or those who want to. They make a choice. Before being ordained, they opt to marry or to be celibate,” he stated.<\/p>\n
According to Francis, there is a priest from the Eastern Rite in the Vatican office who is married and has a son.<\/p>\n
“Here in the Curia we have one \u2014just today I came across him\u2014 who has his wife, his son, [and he] comes [here],” he said. “In the western church, celibacy is a temporary prescription, I do not know if it is settled in one way or another, but it is temporary in this sense, it is not perpetual like priestly ordination, which is forever, whether you like it or not. Whether you leave [the church] or not is a different matter, but it is forever. Celibacy, on the other hand, is a discipline…”<\/p>\n
In the interview the pope also expressed concerns over the rise in global divorce rates, suggesting that some people are marrying too young.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes one goes to a wedding and it seems more like it\u2019s a social reception and not a sacrament. When young people say forever, who knows what they mean by forever,” he stated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pope Francis has hinted that he would review the centuries-long requirement of celibacy for priests in the Catholic Church. He spoke in an interview with Spanish news outlet Infobae to mark the 10-year anniversary of his election as pope. He…","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":300192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[235,9,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-300189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage-carousel","category-news","category-religion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n