The possibility of married priests appears to be nudging its way on to Rome’s agenda. Here, a leading advocate of change argues that mandatory celibacy should be set aside When Pope Francis spoke to La Repubblica last weekend about the possibility of Catholic married priests, his reported remarks about finding a solution to priestly celibacy made headlines around the world. But it is not the first time that the Pope has couched this issue in these terms. Earlier this year, The Tablet reported that Erwin Kräutler, Bishop of Xingu in the Brazilian rainforest, had spoken to Pope Francis about the desperate shortage of priests in his huge South American diocese. And on that occasion as well, it was reported that the Pope was “ open-minded about finding solutions to the probl