Women plead for end to clerical celibacy

A group of 26 Italian women have written to Pope Francis telling him that they are in love with priests and asking him to end the Church’s requirement for clergy to remain celibate and unmarried.

The signatories to the letter claim to be a small sample of a large number of women who “live in silence” and who face “devastating suffering” because of the deep love they have for a priest.

“We love these men, they love us and in most cases, despite all efforts to renounce it, one cannot manage to give up such a solid and beautiful bond,” they wrote in the letter which was reported upon by Vatican Insider.