So this and the O'Brien accusations, rumours and resignation.
The Church really needs to end the tradition of priestly celibacy if they are to keep a qualified clergy and maintain a semblance of intellectual consistency. There are many great priests with straight and gay inclinations. There are a small but tragically sizable number of predators who have used the cloth to commit horrific crimes and grave sin. There are a larger number of deeply closeted and suffering men who fail and end up committing sin as the church defines it. You also have straight priests who have committed the same sin of being outside of marriage and/or not for procreation purposes. Then you have a balance of those who maintain their vows. But is it really necessary to ask them to keep them in the first place? To what end? There are many more demanding jobs than being a priest now. The Church loses many more talented and deeply religious men who can lead the community of believers by imposing this. You have way too many aberrant and frankly socially awkward men who just simply cannot identify with the concerns nor connect with their community.
The time has come to make the change and it is overdue really. Leave it to the diocesan level to opt in or out if needed. No one would be forced to marry. Let orders decide whether they want to maintain the tradition. It is an unsustainable tradition that is destroying the church.
This. Let priests marry and the birth control "ban" will go away. They honestly just don't get it.
