(By Kelly McDonald, Jr) Recent reports have revealed that the Pope is opening up to the idea of allowing married men to become priests. Presently, the Catholic Church only allows single men who have taken a vow of celibacy to become priests. The Catholic Church has a shortage of priests and changing this policy may solve the problem. If this policy is approved by the church, then current single priests would have to maintain their vow of celibacy.
Protestant married priests (such as Anglican) and Eastern Orthodox who convert to Catholicism would be allowed to remain married and be priests. In the first several centuries of the Roman Catholic Church, the issue of married or celibate priests was a debated subject. For the last 1,000 years, the prevailing view in the church has been celibate priests. One important question remains: Is this a ploy by the pope to bring other churches back into communion with Rome?