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It seems insane to me that in light of the shortage of priests and the sex scandals they would not revert to the older practice of married priests. More than half of the time the catholic church was in existence, parish priests were allowed to marry. Celibacy was only required for regular clergy and the upper echelon (bishops and above). Even then, it was celibacy, not being unmarried that was required. It was understood that not everyone with a calling had the temperament for lifelong celibacy, so the church allowed marriage and even sponsored brothels so as to channel those drives into safe channels. Even after the medieval church made celibacy a requirement for parish clergy, it took literally centuries for people to accept that as the norm. Priests suddenly denied the right to marry would simply not call their life partners wives. The celibacy of clergy actually goes against ancient practice and human nature. Yes, celibacy was always considered "better," but once upon a time the Catholic church as a whole had a much more realistic and down to earth understanding of human nature. I think allowing clergy to marry is vastly more compassionate, will cut down on scandal, and me genuinely much better for local parishes.