A priest in Slovakia is challenging the Roman Catholic Church’s celibacy rules in a rare instance of dissent in the conservative religious stronghold in Central and Eastern Europe.
The Rev. Michal Lajcha has co-authored a book that asserts the church would benefit greatly if married men were allowed to be ordained and celibacy were made voluntary.
In “The Tragedy of Celibacy The Death of the Wife,” Rev. Lajcha called celibacy a “festering wound” in the church and said that making it voluntary could help prevent sex scandals.
The title is intentionally shocking and morbid- A married man can only be ordained if he is a widower.
Rev. Lajcha argues that priests simply cannot understand the troubles and worries of ordinary Catholic faithful since they inhabit such a different world.