Madrid, Spain, Sep 8, 2011 / 10:17 am (CNA).- Bishop Vicente Jimenez of Santander, Spain recently said he is confident that abolishing celibacy is not the answer to overcoming the lack of vocations to the priesthood.
A report published Sept. 6 by ReligionenLibertad.com highlighted Bishop Jimenez’s defense of priestly celibacy. “This is the pastor of a diocese with few priests (315 responsible for 615 parishes, with 103 priests over the retirement age of 75) and a priestly ordination calendar that is not very full: only 10 candidates at the major seminary and three at the minor.”
In an interview with the newspaper Montanes, Bishop Jimenez acknowledged that the lack of vocations in his diocese is “troubling” but said he does not believe the solution is to make things easier for priests. “A vocation should be demanding and undiluted,” he said. “There are some voices that say that if we do away with celibacy and allow priests to marry there would be more. I don’t believe it.”
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