Ex-bishop's widow wants optional priestly celibacy

 She uses a wheelchair and carries the weight of her 87 years, but Clelia Luro feels powerful enough to make the Roman Catholic Church pay attention to her campaign to end priestly celibacy.

This woman, whose romance with a bishop and eventual marriage became a major scandal in the 1960s, is such a close friend with Pope Francis that he called her every Sunday when he was Argentina's leading cardinal.

Luro's convinced that he will eventually lead the global church to end mandatory priestly celibacy, a requirement she says "the world no longer understands"....

Full text from U-T San Diego...

From Africa...

KENYA: Kiambu married priest calls for an end to celibacy vow

A married priest in Kiambu has called upon Pope Francis to review the Catholic church vow of celibacy. Reformed Catholic Church Father Peter Kinyanjui said the vow is to blame for the scandals facing the church. Kinyanjui, who left the main Catholic church and married Emma Mugure three years ago, was speaking at an interview yesterday. "Many faithfuls feel Pope Francis is a safe pair of hands to redeem the church image. I believe that he will review the celibacy oath as a way to healing the catholic church from further destruction," he said. (The Star, 3/26/2013)...More...

UGANDA: Uganda's "Singing Priest" Suspended

Easily the most charismatic and best known Catholic priest in Uganda, you would think Fr. Anthony Musaala would be the last person the Church would want to suspend. Yet that is just what happened last month to the young clergyman...On March 12, 2013, Fr. Musaala, tired of the hypocrisy around sexual issues in the Catholic Church in his country, wrote an open letter to his clerical colleagues and superiors about the sexual abuse and celibacy violation issues in the Ugandan Church...In response to Fr. Musaala's letter, Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga suspended the popular cleric on March 19th. (Iglesia Descalza Blog, 4/3/2013)...More...

Ex-priests to Pope: Allow optional celibacy

By Tara Yap
Rappler.com
3/29/2013

LOILO CITY, Philippines — In time for Easter weekend, 3 Catholic Ilonggo priests with families renewed their call for optional celibacy. “Priesthood and marriage are not a contradiction. Marriage blends with priesthood,” said Fathers Hector Canto, Jose Elmer Cajilig, and Jesus Siva in a joint statement.

The 52-year-old Canto is married with 3 children, while 51-year-old Cajilig and 52-year-old Siva are both unmarried priests who have children. The 3 are hopeful that Pope Francis may be able to hear their plea to make celibacy optional in the Roman Catholic priesthood, which was hopeless during the papacy of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who affirmed the celibacy rule in several theological writings...

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British Catholic legislators ask pope to relax priestly celibacy rule

The Catholic Sun (Catholic News Service)
3/30/2013

Twenty-one Catholic members of Parliament have written to Pope Francis to ask him to relax the rule on priestly celibacy for Latin-rite priests. The members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords said in a March 25 letter to the pope that the rule should be changed to allow married men to be ordained priests where pastoral needs required it...

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