Pope upholds celibacy for priests

Pope Benedict XVI today reiterated the Church’s ban on Communion for divorced Catholics who remarry and left it up to bishops whether Catholic politicians should receive Communion if they support abortion rights or gay marriage.

In a 131-page document, the Pope also upheld the Vatican’s requirement for celibacy for priests in the Latin rite Church. “Priestly celibacy lived with maturity, joy and dedication is an immense blessing for the Church and for society itself,” the Pope wrote.

The document embraced recommendations made by bishops from around the world at a 2005 meeting at the Vatican that rejected any change in the celibacy requirement.

Benedict acknowledged the shortage of clergy in some parts of the world, but said bishops should “on no account” lower admission standards to seminaries to compensate.

“Certainly, a more equitable distribution of clergy would help to solve the problem,” Benedict wrote.

Benedict also acknowledged “the painful situations” of divorced Catholics who can no longer receive Communion after they remarry. The Catholic Church does not permit divorce and views such faithful as living in sin if they remarry and consummate their new marriages.

If efforts to annul the first marriages fail, and the couple continue to live together in their new marriage, “the Church encourages these members of the faithful to commit themselves to living their relationship … as friends, as brother and sister,” Benedict said.

He was reiterating a stance held by his predecessor, John Paul II, that divorced Catholics who remarry cannot have sex with their new partners if they want to receive the Eucharist.