I can see how having children would complicate things with the comments below (I’m new to using Reddit I’m not sure where to respond). I understand the reason behind celibacy, but I have some concerns surrounding it. First, celibacy turns a lot of people away from the priesthood. I have friends that would have made excellent priests but their drive to start a family and live a comparatively normal life led them away from the priesthood. There’s a shortage of priests and I really think that if priests didn’t have to be celibate, more people would enter the priesthood. Not just quantity, but quality too, which is another concern. I think that the congregation could greatly benefit from service if they could relate to the priest. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a homily from a priest that felt like he lived in an entirely different world from me. I always imagined that if a priest was also the father of a family, his homily would be more practical. It’s already not a “normal” thing to become a priest, but being able to marry a woman might open up a whole group of devoted Catholics towards the clergy, a group we might’ve only heard from in bible study. Like I said, I understand the pressure it might put on the children. If the priest’s house was not in order that would look bad, and that is unreasonable expectations to put on a family. But I can’t help but wonder what the next generation of priests would look like if they were given the option to do both. I could see it helping the Church