Fr Edward Butler’s letter (“Priests who marry”, 20/27 December 2014) suggests other interesting questions.For example, why are bishops panic ordaining more and more older married men to the diaconate? Would it not be more real, and more effective in the long run, to cease this ineffective pastoral practice? More real, because deacons are not primarily for the sanctuary, but for where people are most lost and abandoned.More effective, as this would be a prophetic call to the Holy Father, saying we need priests not deacons, unless they are ordained to work among the poor. And we need, alongside the celibate priesthood, younger married men who can speak to, and identify with the vast majority of those out of practice. These include the parents of those who go to any lengths