It’s not exactly the change in Roman Catholic doctrine that many would have liked to have seen, but the Vatican is allowing married Anglican priests to return to the Catholic church as fully ordained Catholic priests, despite their marriages.

In an interview with NPR News, senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, Mr. John Allen, pointed out the similarity of the returning Anglicans to the 21 Eastern Rite churches in Eastern Europe, as well as the role of the media in the issue over celibacy within the Catholic Church:

Now, it should be said, for centuries the Catholic Church has had 21 Eastern Rite churches. These are churches that are located mostly in Eastern Europe. In those Eastern right churches priests are allowed to be married. So there have always been, in that sense, churches that have married priests that are in communion with Rome. So in principal this isn’t any different.

The big difference is that where those churches tend to be located in places far away from centers of media attention in the West, these new structures of the Catholic Church is creating for Anglicans, are going to be located in the United States, in Great Britain and Canada – and in those places where the debate over priestly celibacy in many ways already is the most intense.

Although it provides a unique perspective to the situation and sheds some light on the issue, this only begs the question: Why do the Eastern Rite churches not have mandatory celibacy? And why is there a lack of uniform doctrine throughout the Church concerning this issue?

I’ve personally never seen the real purpose of mandatory celibacy within the Catholic Church. Mr. Allen gives several examples for the necessity of celibacy, though. The first being that priests are already, in a way, married to Christ and the Church. And yet, from my understanding, the same is trueof us, that we are Christ’s bride. The second example given by Mr. Allen, making little more sense than the first, is that it provides that the priest can be called to service at any time. Indeed, this makes more sense,  though it (perhaps unwittingly)paints an awful picture of a married priest neglecting his duties, consciously not answering his phone, or cowering in some corner pleading with his wife to not make him give confession. We have enough Protestant churches and pastors to see that marriage rarely, if ever, causes one to neglect their duties, though. So even that is not really a very good reason to maintain celibacy. But whatever. Perhaps there are other reasons unknown to us.

In the end, it seems the change we’re seeing within the Catholic Church involving the Anglicans is only a move to bring those conservatives separating from the more and more liberal Anglican Church back into Catholicism, and not really a promotion of change to its doctrines. The compromise, brought about by recent decisions within the Anglican Church concerning homosexuality, is an attempt to capitalize on that division and strengthen the conservative front against the LGBT community. For now, then, I guess we’ll forgo the hopes of change and soon seeing female priests, or the acceptance of homosexuals, or the end of celibacy within the priesthood. Perhaps one day those changes will come about. Until then, I’m glad I’m a Methodist.