Vatican says 'no change' to priestly celibacy rule

Nov 16, 2006, 17:34 GMT

Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI and his top advisors at the Vatican on Thursday agreed not to relax the Catholic Church's strict celibacy rule for priests.

In a statement, the Vatican said the 'validity of the priestly celibacy' rule had been 'reaffirmed' during the two-hour meeting.

The widely-expected decision came at the end of a meeting attended by the pope himself and leading cardinals. It was called to discuss requests from Catholic priests who wish to marry.

The pope and his aides also discussed the case of Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, the breakaway Zambian archbishop excommunicated in September after ordaining four married men as bishops in the United States.

Milingo, who has married a Korean acupuncturist, is championing the cause of married priests at the head of a New York-based organisation called 'Married Priests Now.'

The Vatican had earlier stressed that Thursday's meeting would not be open to a general debate on the celibacy requirement and would only consider 'requests for dispensation of the celibacy obligation' made by priests who wish to marry and 'requests for readmission to the priestly ministry by priests who married in recent years.'

Pope Benedict had stressed the obligation of celibacy for priests during a synod of world bishops held a year ago.