Married deacons to be ordained next month

The Catholic Church’s rules on celibacy are to be relaxed next month, when Ireland’s first group of married deacons are ordained.

Eight men, who have spent the past four years training to be clergymen, are to be made permanent deacons at a ceremony in Dublin conducted by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.

The initiative, which was first given the green light by Irish bishops in 2001, is likely to be followed in 15 other dioceses across the country in a move which is hoped will ease the growing workload on the ever-diminishing number of elderly priests.