Give Catholics a greater choice

I REFER to Claire O’Sullivan’s article (Church will not take bishop’s celibacy remarks too kindly, Sept 14) which refers to retired Bishop Dr Edward Daly’s questioning of the need for the continuation of the long-established rule of mandatory celibacy in the Catholic Church.

Might I be allowed to make an alternative recommendation to that of doing away with priestly celibacy in the Catholic Church.

Might I point out that celibacy is only an issue in the Latin part of the Catholic Church and which, because of historical circumstances, is the dominant force in the Catholic Church at this point in time; besides the Catholic Church is only one branch of the ancient Christian Churches. There are other historic Christian Churches, for instance the Orthodox Churches and the Eastern Churches, in which celibacy is not an issue; these ancient Churches allow for a celibate and non-celibate priesthood. In some of these non-Catholic ancient churches there are elements in full communion with the Catholic Church, for instance elements of the Greek and Armenian Churches.