Should Celibacy be optional for Catholic Priests: An African Synodal Conversation

African Catholic Voices

Archbishop Scicluna of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith has called on the Church to consider ending celibacy as a way of preventing clerics from living " a dangerous double life." Chapter 11 of the Synodal synthesis report also invites us to pay attention to "different opinions that have been expressed about priestly celibacy." This episode begins this conversation in Africa. We look at the joys and sorrows of compulsory priestly celibacy in the Church with a special attention on the African context. We ask the question: Could African Catholicism offer the church today a renewed understanding of celibacy and how to live it faithfully and fruitfully? OR Could African Catholicism offer the church today the path to a situation where married and unmarried priests can serve the Church side by side with each other?