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

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.

Father Thomas Reese, a Vatican analyst for the National Catholic
Reporter, said he was surprised by the remarks because "the last few
popes have been pretty clear they were not open to changing it or having
a discussion about it."

While Bergoglio certainly wasn't advocating for a rule change, "it looks
like he may be willing to talk about it," Reese said.

The future pope began the conversation with a personal anecdote from his
years as a seminarian.

"I was dazzled by a girl I met at an uncle's wedding," he said,
according to Aleteia. "I was surprised by her beauty, her intellectual
brilliance ... and, well, I was bowled over for quite a while.

"I kept thinking and thinking about her. When I returned to the seminary
after the wedding, I could not pray for over a week because when I tried
to do so, the girl appeared in my head. I had to rethink what I was doing."

He said he had to choose between the girl and the priesthood, and though
he picked the latter, he knows not everyone would.

"When something like this happens to a seminarian, I help him go in
peace to be a good Christian and not a bad priest," Bergoglio said.

"In the Western Church to which I belong, priests cannot be married as
in the Byzantine, Ukrainian, Russian or Greek Catholic Churches. In
those Churches, the priests can be married, but the bishops have to be
celibate. They are very good priests," he added.

"In Western Catholicism, some organizations are pushing for more
discussion about the issue. For now, the discipline of celibacy stands
firm. Some say, with a certain pragmatism, that we are losing manpower.
If, hypothetically, Western Catholicism were to review the issue of
celibacy, I think it would do so for cultural reasons (as in the East),
not so much as a universal option."

He said that "for the moment" he was in favor of maintaining the
celibacy rule "because we have ten centuries of good experiences rather
than failures."

But, he added, "It is a matter of discipline, not of faith. It can change."
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Married priests in the RC Church would be a small step in the right
direction. It's doubtful even Jesus was unmarried.