Irish Roman Catholic Bishop Says Priests Should be Allowed to Marry

In an article in today's Irish Examiner, writers Caroline O’Doherty and Michael Brennan reported that the Catholic Church was staying silent last night on comments from one of its bishops that priests should be allowed to marry.

Bishop of Killaloe Willie Walsh, known to be Church Liberal, voiced his opinion which is in direct conflict with the Vatican, in a newspaper interview in which he said celibacy was meaningless if it had a negative impact on priests and the church they served.

"I have known some very fine priests who have left the priesthood because they found the challenge of celibacy not life-giving for them. Men like that are a great loss to the ministerial priesthood," he told the Sunday Tribune.

"Unless in some way celibacy is a generous gift to others and to God, it is meaningless. If we see celibacy simply as abstaining from sexual intimacy, then it is negative, not life-giving."

The full text of this story may be found at this link:
http://www.examiner.ie/pport/web/ireland/Full_Story/did-sgd8cQuQ-a9jAsgdL11Zs5FWAE.asp