Let me start by copying and pasting an answer to a similar question received previously. Roman Catholic priests have been celibate for a thousand years – but this could change January 22, 2020 11.12am EST • Updated January 28, 2020 8.57am EST Helen Parish , … In 1075 Pope Gregory VII issued a decree effectively barring married priests from ministry, a discipline formalized by the First Lateran Council in 1123. Priests, deacons, and subdeacons were forbidden to marry after ordination, although they were to continue to … In both cases, married priests and married deacons who become widowed may not marry again afterwards and are expected to remain celibate. One is neither forced or deceived to become a priest. In the Catholic Church, choosing to go for priesthood means choosing to be celibate. So, the Church is right in her wisdom to institute celibacy forward desired priests anyway, and would reverse the rule only at dire need to do so. Many priests in the past decided to enter the priesthood when they were too young to even realise how difficult it can to be celibate. Roman Catholic Deacons are also allowed to be married at the time they are ordained. Bishops must be unmarried men or widowers; a married man cannot become a bishop. From day one, Eastern Catholic Churches, such as the Byzantine, have consistently and perennially had the option of married clergy. Cardinals, bishops and priests renew their vows of celibacy, poverty and obedience with Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, April 9, 1998. Vincent-jasper Kelechi The Council of Trullo (692) mandated that a bishop be celibate, and if he was married, he would have to separate from his wife before his consecration. by Kahujadekadura: 11:57am On Sep 09, 2018 mysteryman2014 : Peter was married, … Re: Why Did The Catholic Church Decide That Priests Should Be Celibate? Since celibacy is seen as a consequence of the obligation of continence, it implies abstinence from sexual rel… In others, such as the Eastern Orthodox Church, the churches of Oriental Orthodoxy and some of the Eastern Catholic Churches, married men may be ordained as deaconsor priests, but may not remarry if their wife dies, and celibacy is required only of bishops. Celibacy has been enforced for some centuries now. There are probably two factors involved. Other pre-Christian sects mandated that the people chosen for their sacrificial offerings must be pure, meaning that they had never engaged in sex.

In some Christian churches, such as the western and some eastern sections of the Catholic Church, priests and bishops must as a rule be unmarried men.

In Latin Church Catholicism and in some Eastern Catholic Churches, most priests are celibate men. A candidate for ordination to the permanent diaconate must have reached the age of 25 if unmarried or the age of 35 if … Moreover, there is an ancient Eastern discipline of choosing bishops from the ranks of the celibate monks, so their bishops are all unmarried. Ethics & Religion. The Roman Catholic Church bars most married men from becoming priests, but that rule, could, in theory, be changed.