Cardinal: Maybe Celibacy's Not Such a Great Idea

The Catholic church needs to take a long hard look at its celibacy policy in the wake of its seemingly endless sex scandals, an influential cardinal says. Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, the archbishop of Vienna, wrote in his archdiocese magazine last week that the Vatican should carry out an "unflinching examination" of the roots of the scandals, paying particular attention to priests' training and personality development.

The Vatican needs to look at "the question of priest celibacy and the question of personality development," wrote Schonborn, a protégé of Pope Benedict, adding that celibacy "requires a great deal of honesty, both on the part of the church and society as a whole." Schonborn serves as bishop to Austria's Eastern Rite Catholics, whose priests are already allowed to marry, notes ABC News.
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