Sir, - Rev Michael Manning writes (May 31st): "Pope John Paul II had made it quite clear that the requirement of celibacy is `deeply ingrained' in the very nature of priesthood, that it comes from Christ himself - not from some Church law - and that it must be upheld at all costs."
Let's be quite clear on this. Jesus Christ never imposed celibacy on any of his disciples and surely he never intended it to be upheld at all costs, particularly in our present situation, where just half the world's Catholics are going without Mass and the sacraments for want of male celibate priests.
Scripture tells us that Jesus Christ chose a married man as his first Pope - in fact a number of apostles, early popes and bishops were married. St Paul talks about bishops as "being married only once and good fathers to their families". We also know that celibacy was not practised by all clerics in the early Church, that it is not intrinsic to the priesthood and that it is decidedly not meant to be "upheld at all costs". Otherwise, why would Cardinal Hume ordain over 50 married Anglican priests into the Catholic Church in the past few years?
In the Archdiocese of Westminster we now have married Catholic priests working alongside celibate priests, which was the way in the Catholic Church up to 1139, when the Lateran Council declared that in future priests could no longer marry and so obligatory celibacy became a law of the Church.
Perhaps Rev Michael Manning might display more concern for the millions of "sheep that are not being fed" today across the Catholic world for want of priests, rather than trying to uphold an outdated Church rule that has caused and is continuing to cause devastation. - Yours, etc., Jackie Robinson, P.P.,
Aghaboe, Clough, Ballacolla, Co Laois.