Pope Francis spoke of being 'dazzled' by girl, possible change of celibacy rule

[babylonsister]

Pope Francis spoke of being 'dazzled' by girl, possible change of celibacy rule

The newly installed pope admitted in a book, published last year, that he had been "dazzled" by a young woman while studying to be a priest and calls celibacy "a matter of discipline, not faith," saying "it can change." NBC's Jim Maceda reports.
By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News


Pope Francis suggested in an interview last year that the Catholic Church's rule that priests be celibate "can change" and admitted he was tempted by a woman as a young seminarian.

He said that the married clergy of the Eastern churches are "very good priests" and those pushing for the same in Roman Catholicism do so "with a certain pragmatism."

For now, though, "the discipline of celibacy stands firm," he said, adding that priests should quit if they can't abstain from sex or if they get a woman pregnant.

The former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio's comments -- published in the Spanish-language book “On the Heavens and the Earth” and translated by the Catholic news website Aleteia -- were made when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires.


more...

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/20/17386717-pope-francis-spoke-of-being-dazzled-by-girl-possible-change-of-celibacy-rule?lite

[spin]

1. St. Peter, the first Pope, was married. (n/t)

[Bay Boy]

2. Shocking...

...assuming he is heterosexual I would expect him to be 'dazzled' by a female.

FWIW He could have stopped here: "adding that priests should quit if they can't abstain from sex" without adding "or if they get a woman pregnant". You can't do the second without doing the first.

[Chan790]

10. I had an administrator in college who claimed he did.

Since she refused to talk to his superiors with his order, they couldn't disprove his assertion which was necessary to defrock him.

So, they shunted the randy priest off on the university and paid mom to move to Pittsburgh with the kid and break off contact. Then the order pretended it never happened and nobody spoke of it except on rare occasions when someone would discover it and inquire, only to be told that"we don't talk about that."

Last I heard, the kid was 20 and had his choice of which US Catholic college he wanted to attend on the Vatican's dime.

[SidDithers]

3. Not gonna happen...nt

Sid

[Nye Bevan]

4. Refreshingly sensible stuff (nt)

[LeftInTX]

5. Revelations of crushes and dating are not uncommon

However, as to whether he is open is married priesthood is another issue.

I've always thought the RCC kept the priests unmarried because it was more cost efficient. Families are expensive to support. The Eastern churches tend to be small with middle to upper middle class parishioners and hence can afford the parsonage.

[XemaSab]

12. I've heard also that back in the day

the church had enormous amounts of wealth and power, and having the sons of priests fighting over the spoils caused problems.

[Apophis]

6. Um, we're programmed to mate.

So what if he was "dazzled" by a woman. He's supposed to be dazzled by her, if he's heterosexual.

[Cleita]

7. I believe priests in Ireland were allowed to be married up

to 1000 AD. Celibacy was preferred but marriage allowed until then. I hope there is a serious consideration of changing the celibacy rule except for those who want it. Then they need to take a vow to do so just like religious orders do today.

[Bluenorthwest]

8. When does religion get off the GD list? This is getting to be uncomfortable

Don't the religious people have groups where they can do the praise of the anti gay and anti choice leadership without sending the message that the rest of us must honor this anti gay and anti choice crusader?
How is this anything other than a story about some pin up boy from NOM pontificating about marriage?

[babylonsister]

9. I am SO not religious.

But I do like to keep up with what's going on, and this topic was new to me and interested me.

[Chan790]

11. As an atheist and someone who really doesn't want religion in GD either...

at the same time I'm increasingly coming around to the notion that the attacks on organized religion, specific religions, religious leaders and the parishioners of religions need to be cracked down on. It's unfriendly, anti-progressive and it reflects poorly on DU. You don't have to pay lip-service to the anti-gay and anti-choice crusader...you could choose to keep your mouth shut. Nobody is forcing you to read these threads.

Didn't your mother ever tell you if you had nothing nice to say, say nothing?