Australian cardinal says church should not relax celibacy rule

Published: 2005-10-13

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia, said it would be a mistake for the Latin-rite Catholic Church to relax "the ancient tradition and life-giving discipline of mandatory celibacy" for its priests. The cardinal addressed the Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist Oct. 12, just before leaving the session to witness Pope Benedict XVI bless the cornerstone for Sydney's new Redemptoris Mater seminary, inspired by the lay-led Neocatechumenal Way. Portions of Cardinal Pell's remarks were released by the Vatican. At a press conference the following day, a Ukrainian bishop told of some practical problems with a married priesthood. Cardinal Pell said the Second Vatican Council "brought great blessings and substantial gains" to the church, especially in its missionary activity and in the birth of new lay movements. But, he said, the council "was also followed by confusion, some decline, especially in the West, and pockets of collapse." At the press conference, retired Ukrainian Bishop Sofron Mudry of Ivano-Frankovsk said that although married priests "kept the church alive" during 45 years of communist persecution in Ukraine, his church has found "endless" practical problems with supporting married priests and their families. The bishop said more than half of the 400 priests in his diocese are married, but ordinations of married men have been put on hold for the time being.

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