Catholic Herald clerics poll reveals 75 per cent backing for a fresh look at celibacy

Huge vote for married priests
by Joanna Moorhead THREE QUARTERS of priests in England and Wales believe the Vatican should consider ordaining married men, according to a Catholic Herald survey.
And among the younger generation of priests — those ordained for ten years or less as many as nine out of ten are in favour of the church looking into ending the centuries-old celibacy rule.
The results of the survey, carried out among delegates from every diocese in England and Wales at the National Conference of Priests in Birmingham last week, revealed a wide gulf between the attitudes of clergy in Britain and those of the Vatican on married priests. According to reports from Rome, Pope John Paul has made it clear that he does not expect the issue to be on the agenda when bishops from around the world meet for a month-long synod in October.
Several delegates at last week's conference expressed their concern that the topic had been written off the agenda at such an early stage, although at least one senior delegate, who will be at the synod, has hinted that opportunities might arise to discuss it.
Fr Michael Gaine, chairperson of the Movement for the Ordination of Married Men, said this week he was "very pleased" to hear the results of the survey. "It means that priests in this country are already seeing that the present crisis of numbers requires radical action," he said.
The survey also showed that nearly 40 per cent of priests believe seminaries do not provide enough experience of pastoral work for their students, a view shared by 63 per cent of those in the younger age group. And nearly half of all respondents thought seminaries did not give Christian unity a high enough profile. Commenting on these results, Mgr Patrick O'Donoghue, rector of Allen Hall seminary in London, said he thought practical ecumenism could be given a far bigger role in priestly training. But he thought seminaries differed widely from place to place in terms of parish experience offered to students, so it was difficult to draw overall conclusions on this issue.
The survey also questioned priests on their workload and stress levels. Of those ordained between 21 and 30 years, 57 per cent admitted their work "often" got on too of them.
Fr Gerry Burke, director of the Centre for Human Development which helps set up the "Ministry to Priests" support programmes, said he thought the replies suggested that many clerics were not yet aware enough of what he called the "collaborative ministry". Too many priests were becoming overworked because they were doing tasks which could be easily handled by lay people, he said.