A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The church may hold whatever it holds with regard to clerical celibacy.
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.
Celibacy is not a matter of compulsion. Someone is accepted as a priest only when he does it of his own accord.
If priests were allowed to marry, if this would be an optional thing, and if he could have wife and children, he would certainly have less temptation to satisfy certain sexual impulses with minors.
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.
I might be celibate, but I appreciate the wonder of the sacrament of marriage.
I briefly thought of becoming a priest but quickly saw that would be ridiculous.
Priests are not men of the world; it is not intended that they should be; and a University training is the one best adapted to prevent their becoming so.
There is a species of person called a 'Modern Churchman' who draws the full salary of a beneficed clergyman and need not commit himself to any religious belief.
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.