BRASILIA - Married Catholic priests from around the world yesterday called on the Vatican to end its ban on marriage for the clergy, warning that intransigence on the issue could further erode the Church's thinning ranks.
"The Vatican is hurting us and the future of the Church just to uphold a law that Jesus Christ never gave us, said Father Anthony Padovano who heads the US Corpus of Married Priests. About 200 priests and many of their families attended the opening day of a Fourth International Conference of Married Catholic Priests in the Brazilian capital.