Outspoken Irish cleric says marriage would have made him a 'better priest' - VIDEO

First, I would like to congratulate Cardinal Brady for encouraging Fr. D'Arcy. Fr. D'Arcy makes soooo much sense. I have long believed Catholic clergy should have the option to marry. There would be a lot less sinful behavior if they were. I have noticed that pastors always tend to make an upstanding woman his parish 'wife.' Man needs woman and woman needs man. Marriage has been sanctioned by God. Come on board Catholic Church.

CitizenWhy **Celibacy for priests and bishops is certainly not Biblical. In Timothy3:2 the qualifications for bishop start as: "Therefore a bishop must be above reproach, the husband of one wife,[b] sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, ..." Is this a case of the catholci church refusing to follow the Bible?** --Isn't it amazing how generally bigoted, clearly anti-Catholic, obviously unchurched and marginally educated people eagerly take-up the mantle of a 'quasi-theologian' by the mere fact they can extract from the bible a convenient verse they think supports their hare-brained opinion? -- Surely their blathering makes sense and is welcomed by those already antagonistically pre-disposed toward the CC... however, to people more familiar with the way the Church arrives at discerning and implementing disciplines and practices it imposes upon its clergy and faithful, this type of off-the-cuff ramblings amount to nothing more than what could be properly called 'opinio-theologizing' Clearly a made-up word that describes a non-sensical effort on the part of disaffected haters eager for the slightest opportunity to slam the Church, no matter how uninformed and stupid their comments are.

Connamaragirl. Spot on. I know many people who never leave the alter rails and aren`t very good people.

I don't post on IC to sell my books or articles, KOH, and quantity often has little to do with quality. However, IF comparing intellects were a counting exercise (it's not, and it's generally a useless thing to do), then aside from you and a few other mostly foul-mouthed posters, there are many millions FEWER people objecting to my ideas than to Ben XVI's! -- objecting, that is, with any viable arguments, relevant facts, or coherent counterpoints. Often, just like you, those who disagree with me HAVE NO response, so they hurl foolish insults instead, just like you. Not worth tuppence! Jacers constructed a straw man ("full of idiots"), and I pointed out that he had misrepresented and over-simplified others' comments. I did not hurl insults at him.

Jaceragain. Hard to freely challenge the truth of its wealth when no one is allowed to know.

**Jacers, I don't recall anyone calling Benedict XVI stupid (though I believe you over-rate his intellect).** --Methinks that it has been long demonstrated by your interminable bloviating and attempts to one-up everyone's comments you've shown you highly and unduly over-rate your own. --- Let's do a small comparison... Benedict has written close to 100 highly acclaimed books on philosophy, theology, etc. -- Previous to his ascending to the Papacy he was a widely loved professor in German universities, etc. -- Now, how many books did YOU say you have written, and how much impact have they had in any particular field??

How can any priest be expected to give advice on topics he has no practical understanding of. My daughter could be the best driver in the world on paper, having read the most books on it. Don`t mean she can drive. Let them marry and be in a better position to relate to their flock. Might be a substantial financial tag for some one though, if they all practice what they preach.

I'll just add that driving people out of your group, i.e., gate-keeping, as Nicoletta does ("This priest needs another religion") and as Mairint does even more widely ("All you guys, along with Fr. D'Arcy et al, should just move over to the Anglican Church") is just more blatant CENSORSHIP-- exclusion, 'in-group' hostility to discussion, dialogue, and debate, and of course a common form of tyranny. Are the signs not clear that RC has ignored the call of the Holy Spirit to listen, learn, and teach the truth and to include others rather than driving them out of the Body of Christ? Such statements are clear evidence that these Catholics have abandoned Christianity in favor of some cozy group of politically like-minded people they're comfortable with and can manipulate.

Jacers, I don't recall anyone calling Benedict XVI stupid (though I believe you over-rate his intellect). No, the comments I've read disagree with the judgments and decisions of people in the Vatican. That's all--we think they're wrong and Fr. D'Arcy is right on an important matter of (very recent) tradition and discipline. Also, if you look into the recent popes' writings about priestly celibacy, perhaps you yourself will recognize the weakness of the arguments with which they try to defend it. And this pope's and his predecessor's attempts to smuggle infallibility into those writings by the back door-- by forbidding theologians to write about the celibacy requirement and priests to question it-- does the Cath0olic Church much harm among most people outside it, as well as the majority within it. So it's not only the weakness of arguments defending celibacy, but far more the censorship imposed by the CDF on priests like Fr Brian D'Arcy that accounts for the loss of respect you see here. How can anyone respect people who censor criticism that they cannot reply to?

Some posters below think the Roman Catholic Church is full of idiots. In fact, the RCC is not. It has more great thinkers (Pope Benedict is recognised as one of the best free thinkers in the world amongst non-religious peers, peers of other religions and his co-religionist peers, which most knockers of the Roman Catholic Church are incapable of being, or incapable of recognising his unique talent). The RCC’s priests and nuns comprise of thousands of philosophers, psychologists, scientists, doctors of medicine and other sciences, nurses, space experts, computer experts, teachers, accountants, poll counters, statisticians, media people like the excellent Christian Fr. Brian D’Arcy and the Vatican Radio and TV station presenters. The Vatican’s website is one of the most visited in the world (have you been ignorant enough not to freely visit it yet??… And learn of what it actually does, says and encourages in this world of ours? Feel free to challenge every truth it gives. (More…)

Mairint does have it right. This is not the Church for him; there are alternatives more suitable to his aspired lifestyle.

Mairiant,Oh !!!!!!!!,if you ,one so faithful spend so much time in Church then you of all people should know not to judge,God alone should judge ,I know many good men and women who do not attend Church who are very good people.

mairint and her right wing Catholic collective below need a reality check and get on board with common sense.

@seanomelb - oh no, they do have a concept of reality; a singular, dangerous and malevolent reality which basically says "we're right and you're wrong" I fear that over time, those who persist in clinging to such a reality will come to regret doing so. They should know that as believers, that in rushing to judge others, they place themselves in a position in which they themselves will be judged!!

Mairint and her religious bigots are a bunch of morons with no concept of reality.