Catholic priest: Why celibacy is right for me

From The Washington Post-

There has been much talk recently about priestly celibacy. Italian Archbishop Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s new Secretary of State, gave an interview to the Venezuelan newspaper El Universal, in which he discussed continuity and change in the Catholic Church. The interviewer raised the question of celibacy, and the archbishop replied that celibacy “is not a church dogma and it can be discussed because it is a church tradition,” dating to the early centuries of the church.

There was nothing new in Parolin’s comments. Celibacy is a church discipline, very different than a dogmatic teaching like the resurrection or doctrines defending the sanctity of all human life. Such teachings go to the heart of the faith and thus cannot be changed. Celibacy is a different kind of rule, open to change.  While celibate priesthood became the universal norm in the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, the Vatican has always respected the practice of married priests in the Eastern Churches united with Rome, and in recent decades has made special provision for married, Anglican clergy who convert to Catholicism.

More here-

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/wp/2013/09/16/catholic-priest-why-celibacy-is-right-for-me/