I might be celibate, but I appreciate the wonder of the sacrament of marriage.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I very much feel that marriage is a sacrament and that sacrament should extend... to that legal entity of a union between what traditionally in our Western values has been defined as between a man and a woman.
The vow of celibacy is a matter of keeping one's word to Christ and the Church. a duty and a proof of the priest's inner maturity; it is the expression of his personal dignity.
Celibacy is not a matter of compulsion. Someone is accepted as a priest only when he does it of his own accord.
Rituals are important. Nowadays it's hip not to be married. I'm not interested in being hip.
If, hypothetically, Western Catholicism were to review the issue of celibacy, I think it would do so for cultural reasons, not so much as a universal option.
The church may hold whatever it holds with regard to clerical celibacy.
I was brought up as a Catholic and went to church every week and took the sacraments. It never really touched the core of my being.
If someone talks about union, fidelity, a monogamous relationship, love, blessing; I would say it sounds like marriage to me. And blessing, you see, I think is undermining our sacrament of marriage.
If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.
The truly longstanding tradition in the church is that some are called to celibacy. Some feel called to it. But the church has never supported that celibacy be mandated for someone not called to it. It's never imposed on someone.