According to the Vatican's secretary of state "priest celibacy is an open question" for
the Catholic Church and it should be. Family values and passing along belief in god to
the next generation are a large part of Catholic life. Plus, marriage is one of the seven sacraments.
Why in this day and age does the church require its Priests to miss out on those elements
of their religion?
Well, first off they don't. Celibacy is not a revealed truth passed down from God to man.
It is a church discipline and as such there are some exceptions. According to USCatholic.Org
about a hundred Catholic Priests in the US today are married.
These Priests were Episcopalian and Lutheran ministers who got married. Then later converted
to Catholicism at which time they were ordained as Roman Catholic Priests and allowed to keep
their marriage vows, wives, families...etc.
Plus, Eastern Catholic Churches who are self governing but considered Catholic by the Vatican,
have always allowed sections of their Priesthood to marry.
So, Celibacy is not an absolute requirement for doing the job of priesthood.
Plus, Celibacy wasn't a part of Catholicism early on. St. Peter was married for example,
It only became an official part of religious life in 1075 when Pope Gregory VII issued
an official decree banning marriage in the priesthood. His reasons mainly involved stemming
church corruption and putting an end to the practice of Priest leaving church property
to their wives and children.
So, the argument for opening up marriage to the entire church seems strong. So, why haven't
they?
Well, according to current Catholic teachings they see celibacy as a "gift that God bestows
on those who are called to the priesthood"
A gift that allows Priests to give themselves fully to their parishioners, all of their
love and energy can be spent in that direction and it also allows the Priests to keep their
parishioners first in their hearts and minds, not second or third behind their wife and
kids.
Some Priests think Celibacy brings them closer to their work and as a result closer to God,
which you can argue is a practical benefit of celibacy.
There are also financial benefits of celibacy or more accurately financial obstacles to
allowing marriage. Can the diocese afford to take care of entire families? Does each
parish have the facilities? Would they carry insurance? Would they pay for higher education?
Do they take on debts or liabilities of their new dependents?
And there are few moral pandora's box-y type questions that go with priest's marrying.
How do you handle the inevitable divorce or separation? Could they marry non-catholics?
Is it ethical for a priest to take their wife's or child's confession? What about the child's
or widow's inheritance? Can they receive that or are they more like feudal serfs than children?
Those are a ton of questions and we didn't even mention any of the current gay rights,
birth control or any of the other hot button issues for the catholic church.
What I'm saying is one reason celibacy still exists may be because eliminating it is really
complicated.
And the pope is reported to have basically said as much. He called celibacy a "problem",
but he also said that "there are solutions and (he) will find them"
He hasn't yet, because as problems go, this one is complicated.