A reader writes:
As interesting as the Ukrainian Greek Catholic example is, a better one would be the primarily Lebanese Maronite Church. This is an Eastern Rite member of the Roman Catholic family which has never had an Orthodox branch, and has always been doctrinally correct. Of course, as you might expect, in the American Maronite Church, priests are not allowed to marry. But in Lebanon, it is estimated that at least half of the priests are married.
Another writes:
Given the stance of the religious right to consider natural law when thinking through first principles, doesn't that mean that celibacy is equivalent to the "perverse" they're trying to argue against? Who can claim celibacy is natural? If we were just as craven as they, couldn't we start pushing the view that the Church has *caused* the child predators in their midst by enforcing an "unnatural" lifestyle?