VATICAN CITY, March 13 (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI has reaffirmed the "sacred" nature of priestly celibacy as paedophile priest scandals rekindle debate on the Catholic Church's policy.
Celibacy is "the sign of full devotion the entire commitment to the Lord and to the 'Lord's business', an expression of giving oneself to God and to others," the pope said at a theological convention.
The pope defended "the value of sacred celibacy, which in the Latin Church is.. required for ordination (of priests) and is held in great regard by Eastern Churches."Benedict was speaking ahead of a meeting with the head of the German Catholic Church whose country is embroiled in snowballing scandals over predator priests and teachers.
A top Vatican prelate, at the same conference, had already stressed the importance of celibacy the day after Archbishop of Vienna Christoph Schoenborn called for an unflinching examination of the possible roots of child sex abuse by priests.
Schoenborn cited "the issue of priest training, as well as the question of what happened in the so-called sexual revolution. "It also includes the issue of priest celibacy and the issue of personality development. It requires a great deal of honesty, both on the part of the Church and of society as a whole," he added.
Many theologians, notably Hans Kueng of Switzerland, have questioned the celibacy rule for priests, as well as lay Catholic groups such as We Are Church, which has called for numerous modernising reforms since its founding in 1996. |
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