Pope Francis Hints at an End to Celibacy for Priests 

Ten years in power, the Pope calls the practice — a millennium old — ‘temporary.’

AP/Domenico Stinellis, file
Pope Francis at the Vatican, January 24, 2023. AP/Domenico Stinellis, file

Word from Pope Francis that clerical celibacy is only “temporary” — it’s been the Catholic Church’s rule for a millennium — signals  further change, and possibly, priestly matrimony, in an institution that claims apostolic lineage and is rooted in the heart of the Eternal City.

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