Married priests? Some musings from England

In a December 21st interview in the Financial Times, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the 10th Archbishop of Westminster and head of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, offers his perspective on the possibilities of a married priesthood.

From the Financial Times:

...Murphy-O’Connor is gently subversive in making a case for the ordination of married men: “We have a number of married men in this diocese who are former Anglicans who are already married. If you say to me, ‘Do you think the church could change and ordain many married men?’ the answer is, ‘Yes, it could.’ ”...

While this is noteworthy because of Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor's stature and his relative conservatism on most church issues, it is not the first time the cardinal has spoken about this issue. When he was installed as Archbishop of Westminster in 2000, Murphy-O'Connor gave an interview to The Guardian in which he said:

"Disciplines can change. When a priest accepts celibacy when he is ordained that rule should be kept. But is it (marriage) incompatible with priesthood? The answer is obviously no. I would not rule it out. The matter will come up again."

Seven years later, he — and we — are still waiting...