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 “The Vatican Briefing” podcast. “But I think it is good that we discuss it.”
Earlier this month, Scicluna – who serves as both the Arch-bishop of Malta and an adjunct secretary of the Vatican dicastery – made headlines 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 arch-bishop 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.