Group of Minnesota priests asks bishops to discuss celibacy rule

Published: 2003-12-18

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) -- Calling the shortage of priests a "grave threat" to the U.S. church, one-fourth of the priests in the St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese have asked for a discussion of priestly celibacy by the U.S. bishops. They made their request in a letter Dec. 11 to Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, Ill., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. A response issued by the archdiocese said Archbishop Harry J. Flynn of St. Paul-Minneapolis disagreed with the priests' letter and enthusiastically supports a celibate priesthood. Other priests in the archdiocese also disagreed with their fellow priests. A local pastor who signed the request said he wasn't necessarily advocating a change in the church's discipline, "just the dialogue." The letter, signed by 113 priests, said: "It is our position that the current and prospective shortage of priests constitutes a grave threat to the church in our country because ... our Catholic faithful are more and more being denied their baptismal right to full access to the sacramental life of the church, especially Sunday Eucharist."

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