This has been bubbling under the surface for some time, and apparently is about to break into the open:

Some Los Angeles area Roman Catholic priests are urging an open discussion on whether to allow married clergy as one solution to the growing priest shortage, and say they hope Cardinal Roger M. Mahony will raise the issue to church authorities nationally and in Rome.

For those who are not familiar with the history of the Church, married men were allowed to be priests for the first thousand years of the Church's existence, although celibacy was the preferred state. It did not become a rule until around the time of the schism between Rome and the Eastern church. It is still considered a rule, not a doctrine, which means it is open to change by the Church hierarchy if desired. (Restricting the priesthood to men, on the other hand, is considered doctrine and cannot be changed.) It may come as a surprise that there are married priests in the Roman Catholic Church, but they are converts from either Protestant or Eastern Rite churches that were already married ministers or priests.

Another interesting development:

Msgr. Terrence Richey said he told Mahony during an "open mike" session that many priests wanted "the discussions to go on among clergy and bishops in a way that is not seen as being disloyal to the church." Richey said Mahony "basically agreed with those sentiments."

But, participants said, opposition to such sentiments was voiced in a way that took many priests by surprise: open booing by younger clerics.

That reflected an ideological divide among priests ordained during the reform years of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s and those who entered the priesthood during the 25-year papacy of Pope John Paul II, who has celebrated the value of celibacy.

I believe that it will be the younger ordained members, and not the laity, that will press Rome to reconsider the celibacy requirement, although it will probably occur with the next Pope and not John Paul II, who has repeatedly stated his opposition to change in this area. However, they will need to overcome this reflexive reaction:

"Rome knows what it's doing," said Father Donatus Ekanachi, a Nigerian native and associate pastor of St. Raymond Church in Downey who attended the conference. "The Catholic Church has one head, and anyone who challenges that head becomes a rebel."

There is a worldwide shortage of priests that is fueling this controversy. As families have grown smaller, especially in developed countries, there has been less economic incentive for younger sons to enter into the priesthood as a route to education and survival. In feudal times, younger sons could not inherit, and either lived as a laborer on their eldest brother's farm, learned a trade and moved to town, or entered into the priesthood. Now, however, the feudal systems are gone, inheritance is largely irrelevant for the middle class, and there aren't as many "younger sons" to handle the need for new priests. The Church will have to adapt to new realities if it wants to remain committed to delivering the Eucharist to all of its community.

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