VATICAN CITY 12 September 2013 (ORCNS) - Archbishop Pietro Parolin, the new Secretary of State of the Vatican, said yesterday that clerical celibacy is open to discussion in the Roman Communion. He pointed out that celibacy is not a dogma of the Church, but a discipline. The Roman Communion did not make celibacy a requirement for the Roman Rite until the Second Lateran Council in 1139. Married clerics are still common within Eastern Rite Catholicism, the Orthodox, and Old Roman Catholics.
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Archbishop Pietro Parolin Credit: Osservatore Romano |