Priests should have option to marry – Archbishop Charles Scicluna

The Church should look into revising its rules to allow Catholic priests the option to get married, Archbishop Charles Scicluna told Times of Malta.
The time is ripe to “discuss the issue seriously” and “take decisions on it”, he said, adding that he has already openly spoken about it at the Vatican, but acknowledged it is ultimately not his decision to make.
“This is probably the first time I’m saying it publicly and it will sound heretical to some people,” said the archbishop, who is also a respected Vatican official.
“Why should we lose a young man who would have made a fine priest, just because he wanted to get married? And we did lose good priests just because they chose marriage.”
Scicluna sat down for an interview with Times of Malta this week. Photo: Karl Andrew Micallef
The centuries-old rule on priestly celibacy has been publicly debated for decades but local Church authorities had, until now, always defended it, insisting a priest’s life should be exclusively dedicated …