Common Questions

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Don't you think more men would become priests if they could get married? Wouldn't that solve the priest shortage?

Perhaps more men would choose the priesthood, but the question is, "Would this be what is best for the Church?" As said above, celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom is a powerful sign that Jesus is real and that He is worth living for, sacrificing for, and dying for. Besides, in the world as a whole, vocations to the priesthood and religious life have dramatically increased in the last thirty years. In Africa, they increased by 394%; in S. E. Asia, by 152%; in Central America, by 165%; and in South America, by 253%! It is only in the U. S. and in Western Europe that they dropped by 60% and 13%, respectively. The problem is not the requirement of celibacy … there is something else going on in our nation and in Western Europe.