---

AP, via The Boston Globe, USA
Dec. 4, 2006
Tales Azzoni
www.boston.com

---

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 16709 • Posted: Monday December 4, 2006  

---

SAO PAULO — An influential Brazilian cardinal says the Roman Catholic Church should reconsider its ban on allowing priests to marry.

Cardinal Claudio Hummes, who was recently named to head the Vatican’s office in charge of priests around the world, made the comment about two weeks after the Holy See reaffirmed the requirement of celibacy for priests.

“Celibacy is a discipline, not a dogma of the church,” Hummes was quoted as saying by the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper. “Certainly, the majority of the apostles were married. In this modern age, the church must observe these things, it has to advance with history.”

A Vatican spokesman could not be reached for comment yesterday . But the Vatican has strongly resisted calls for relaxing its celibacy rule.

Former Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo of Zambia is among those campaigning to change the policy.

Milingo was excommunicated in September when he ordained four married American men as bishops in defiance of the Vatican. He already had angered the Vatican in 2001 when he wed a South Korean woman in a group ceremony of the Unification Church of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon.

Last year, one of France’s most respected Catholic figures, Abbe Pierre, wrote that he favored allowing priests to marry. In 2003, more than 160 priests in the Milwaukee Archdiocese in Wisconsin signed a letter supporting married clergy.

Early Christianity had no formal ban on marriage. The Bible mentions St. Peter’s mother-in-law and many scholars suggest other apostles had wives — as well as at least some popes, such as the 9th-century Hadrian II.

In the early Middle Ages, however, movements for celibacy gained momentum and it became a requirement by the 12th century.

Most groups estimate the Roman Catholic Church has lost 100,000 to 150,000 clergy around the world who left the active priesthood to marry. The church considers them outcasts.

Hummes, 72, who heads the diocese of Sao Paulo, was seen as a potential Third World candidate for the papacy in the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI last year.

---

What You Can Do From Here

---

Read More Articles On These Topics Categories: Catholic Church Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article Subscribe Religion News Blog RSS feed [What is this?] RSS by topic: Catholic Church Read Another Article Previous entry: Bailed cult leader ordered away from HQ Next entry: Muslim Woman Gives Sex Advice on Arab TV RNB Homepage with latest headlines Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults Find Related Books Catholic Church Most Popular Today I know the dark side of Scientology…I almost lost my friend when she became obsessed with it Church of Scientology told to drop Churchill images

---

Share This Article

---

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:

• Post a link on your blog or website:
  
• Send in an email or IM:
  
• Post on a forum:
  

Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- CounterCultSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.

Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- ApologeticsSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.