Married priests won't resolve vocations crisis: Ukrainian cardinal

Friday, 04 January 2008 09:00

Rome, Jan. 4, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church has authored an article for L'Osservatore Romano arguing that an end to clerical celibacy would not resolve the vocations crisis.

Cardinal Lubomyr Husar of Kiev noted that the Byzantine Church he leads-- the largest of the Eastern churches in communion with Rome-- allows for the ordination of married men. The marital status of priests does not determine the quality of their service to the Church, the Ukrainian cardinal argued. At the same time, he observed, the absence of the celibacy disciplinary practiced by the Roman rite has not eliminated the constant challenge of finding candidates for the priesthood.