Vatican City, Oct 22, 2010 / 10:05 am
Earlier this week, Pope Benedict XVI for the first time publicly engaged the issue of the relationship between the Church’s celibacy requirements and the clergy sexual abuse scandals.
In an unusually personal letter to the world’s seminarians Oct. 18, the Pope told them that it is understandable if the scandals have caused them to question their decision to become priests or to choose to live a celibate life.
“Recently we have seen with great dismay that some priests disfigured their ministry by sexually abusing children and young people,” the Pope said.
He added: “As a result of all this, many people, perhaps even some of you, might ask whether it is good to become a priest; whether the choice of celibacy makes any sense as a truly human way of life.”