Cardinal Keith O'Brien: 'Allow priests to marry'

Details

Created on Friday, 22 February 2013 15:44

Written by BBC

 

Cardinal Keith O'Brien says priests should be allowed to choose whether or not to marry

Britain's most senior Roman Catholic has said he believes priests should be able to marry if they wish to do so.

Read more: Cardinal Keith O'Brien: 'Allow priests to marry'

Association of Catholic Priests discuss Church's future

Details

Created on Tuesday, 08 May 2012 12:13

Written by BBC News

An organisation which represents more than 850 priests in Ireland has been meeting on Monday to discuss the future direction of the Catholic Church.

The Vatican has recently criticised leading members of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) for expressing views which contradict Church teaching.

Read more: Association of Catholic Priests discuss Church's future

North to lose nearly half its priests in 10 years

Details

Created on Sunday, 23 October 2011 13:04

Written by The Tablet

Northern English dioceses are expected to lose as much as 40 per cent of their serving priests in the next decade, forcing them to dissolve or merge dozens of parishes. According to a report by the Centre for Catholic Studies at the University of Durham, the number of active clergy in the Diocese of Middlesbrough will decline from 62 to 36 by 2019. This follows earlier estimates for Hexham and Newcastle, which predict a 36 per cent drop in priest numbers by the end of this decade, while the Diocese of Lancaster expects a 40 per cent decline during the same period.

Retired Bishop Daly calls for end to compulsory celibacy

Details

Created on Thursday, 15 September 2011 10:19

Written by Alex Walker

Allowing priests to marry would help ease the problems facing the Catholic Church, a senior cleric has claimed.

The ancient clerical vow of celibacy has forced many good men to decide against joining the priesthood, former bishop of Derry Edward Daly said.

"There is certainly an important and enduring place for celibate priesthood," he wrote in his newly-published memoirs.

"But I believe that there should also be a place in the modern Catholic Church for married priesthood and for men who do not wish to commit themselves to celibacy."

The vow dates back to the 11th century and was introduced, in part, to make sure clergy committed themselves to God alone.

A number of married Anglican clergymen who have converted to Catholicism have been given special dispensation to become priests.

But Bishop Daly said the time had come for widespread changes to the rules on celibacy within the church. Extracts of the 77-year-old cleric's book - A Troubled See, Memoirs Of A Derry Bishop - have been published in the Irish News.

Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2011, All Rights Reserved.