Allowing priests to marry has contributed to the survival of the
Christian faith in Iraq, said Lebanese Bishop Guy-Paul Noujaim Tuesday,
on the sidelines of a Middle East synod at the Vatican.
The bishop
said there were 400 bishops in North Africa in the time of Saint
Augustine and not a single one after the Muslim invasion, contrasting
the situation to Iraq today where the Chaldean and Syrian Catholic
churches have survived.
He attributed the difference to a liturgy
that was "close to the people" and the fact its priests could marry,
unlike those linked to Rome.
"A married priest is like a tree with
roots -- the family of his wife, the clan -- and its branches -- his
children who marry...," he said.
The bishop, who is not married himself, said he advocated personal choice on the matter.
He said that in his diocese half the priests were married and that there had not been any "crisis" in their vocation.
He
added, however, that he did not wish to comment on the question of
marriage for priests in the Latin Church, the part of the vast body of
the Catholic church which looks to Rome.
SIC: AFP/INT'L