NCR Exclusive: Vatican’s abuse expert says ending priestly celibacy could prevent a ‘double life’
by JOSHUA J. MCELWEE
One of the Catholic Church’s leading doctrinal officials has reiterated his unusual call for the global institution to consider ending its millennia-long requirement that priests remain celibate, saying that allowing priestly marriage could be a means of preventing clerics from living dangerous double lives.
In an exclusive interview with National Catholic Reporter on Jan. 24, Archbishop Charles Scicluna said: “One of my worries is that people are put in a situation where they are comfortable with a double life.”
“This is not to diminish the beauty of celibacy or the heroic commitment of people who have accepted celibacy as a gift and live it,” said the archbishop, speaking in an interview at the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith for NCR’s
podcast. “But I think it is good that we discuss it.”
Earlier this month, Scicluna — who serves as both the Archbishop of Malta and an adjunct secretary of the Vatican dicastery —
when he said he believes it is time to revisit the church’s long-standing ban on allowing marriage for most of its clerics.
At the time, the archbishop was commenting on the lives of priests who have hidden relationships, which he said could be a “symptom” of priests “having to cope with” their celibacy requirement.
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“I think that if the church is not accountable, it’s not synodal.”
— Archbishop Charles Scicluna