No one could accuse Pope John Paul II of being soft on celibacy. The Roman Pontiff frowns upon even hypothetical discussions about relaxing the church's centuries-old ban on married priests. Yet this is the same Pope who in 1980 approved an experiment in which 43 married men have become Roman Catholic priests in the U.S. The most recent was ordained in New York just last week. (Some 20 married converts have become priests elsewhere in the West since Pope Pius XII allowed the first such dispensation in 1951.) Although church officials have sought to avoid publicity about the unusual American program,...
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