Vatican's Abuse Expert: Ending Celibacy Could End 'Double Life'

One of the Catholic Church's leading doctrinal officials has reiterated his unusual call for the global institution to consider ending its millennia-long requirement that priests remain celibate, saying that allowing priestly marriage could be a means of preventing clerics from living dangerous double lives. In an exclusive interview with National Catholic Reporter on Jan. 24, Archbishop Charles Scicluna said: "One of my worries is that people are put in a situation where they are comfortable with a double life." "This is not to diminish the beauty of celibacy or the heroic commitment of people who have accepted celibacy as a gift and live it," said the archbishop, speaking in an interview at the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith for NCR's "The Vatican Briefing" podcast. "But I think it is good that we discuss it."