Debate continues over celibacy question

MILWAUKEE, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Catholic bishops Thursday defended mandatory celibacy for priests, even as more priests across the nation consider opposing the rule.

About 30 percent of Milwaukee's priests signed a letter last month, suggesting abolishment of the celibacy requirement, citing the severe shortage of Catholic clergy.

The New York Times reported the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop Wilton Gregory, issued a letter Thursday calling celibacy "a powerful spiritual means to draw closer to Christ" and noting several popes have reaffirmed the nearly 1,000-year-old celibacy requirement.

Also Thursday, Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan wrote in his archdiocesan newspaper, "This is the time we priests need to be renewing our pledge to celibacy, not questioning it."

But the National Federation of Priests Councils told the Times associations of priests in Boston, Pittsburgh, Chicago and Charleston, and in the states of New York and Illinois, are all considering manifestos similar to the one issued in Milwaukee.

Researchers at the Catholic University of America said for every 100 priests who die or leave the ministry, Catholic seminaries are now training only 30 or 40 replacements.