Retired bishop seeks permission to get married

Vatican to consider dispensation from celibacy rule
BY STAFF REPORTER
A RETIRED Quebec bishop's announcement that he will ask the Vatican to dispense him from the priesthood so he can marry, has reopened a debate in Canada on celibacy for priests.
Retired Bishop Raymond Dumais, 52, who resigned as Bishop of Gaspe in July 2001, announced during a radio interview with the Radio Canada station in Rimouski that he is living with a woman.
In an interview with a Quebec newspaper, the bishop also said that during his 25 years as a priest he had had difficulty with the vow of celibacy.
"It's time that we woke up to a new culture within the Church," Fr Guy Lagace, president of the archdiocesan forum of the Archdiocese of Rimouski, told the Quebec newspaper Le Soleil.
"Celibacy should not become a barrier to men interested in becoming priests. Raymond Dumais is not the only person to be living this situation." Pope John Paul II has repeatedly and strongly defended the Latin-rite rule on priestly celibacy. He calls it a timely challenge for contemporary society and says he believes that allowing a married priesthood may create bigger problems than those it intends to solve.
In a December 4 interview with Le Soleil, Bishop Dumais was quoted as saying: "I could not keep my vow of celibacy, and this was the case during my entire ministry as a priest.
"In a person's lifetime, changes can come along that can force us to show respect for ourselves and who we are. This was not an easy decision to make, nor an easy situation to live. But I feel the decision I have made is the right one."
Bishop Dumais also told Le Soleil that he would like the church to see celibacy as an option, rather than an obligation, in the priesthood.
"The fact that celibacy is the only option is a relic from norms of the 13th century," he was quoted as
saying. The spokesman for the Quebec Assembly of Bishops described the bishop's situation as a personal one and said the assembly would not comment.
In a December 4 interview with Le Soleil, Mgr Peter Schonenbach, the secretarygeneral of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, described the situation as one of "human nature", and said that on a personal level he understood Bishop Dumais's situation very well.
Mgr Schonenbach confirmed that this was the first case in Canada of a bishop asking to be dispensed from the priesthood.
Church sources have said that it could take the Vatican more than a year to study the request.
Bishop Dumais's female companion has not been identified.
Since he retired, Bishop Dumais has been living in Bic, a small town near Rimouski; he has earned money speaking, including giving lectures on the Bible.