Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh has said priests should be allowed to get married if they wish and that it may happen in the future.
In a newspaper interview published this morning, Dr Walsh said he believed there was "room for both priests who are married and celibate priests in our church.
Bishop Willie Walsh
He is the first senior Catholic church figure in 10 years to call for an end to the ban on marrying amongst the clergy. In 1995, Bishop Brendan Comiskey was summoned to Rome when he made the call.
Quoted in today's Sunday Tribune newspaper, Dr Walsh said: "Obviously this is a very serious question.
"But I think we need a debate on celibacy in our church and on the wider issue of our whole understanding of sexuality. I certainly wouldn't have any difficulty with the concept of married priests ministering in our church.
Dr Walsh said he had known "some very fine priests" who left the priesthood because of the celibacy rule.
"Men like that are a great loss to the ministerial priesthood," he added.
"Obviously each one of the us longs for love and intimacy in our lives, because without that we live alone and in isolation.
"Unless in some way celibacy is a generous gift to others and to God, it is meaningless. If we see celibacy simply as abstaining from sexual intimacy, then it is negative, not life-giving.
Dr Walsh said celibacy may suit some priests who "wouldn't be able to give as generously if they were married".
He said he believed there was a desire in the Catholic church to debate the issue. "And I think a desire to discuss it indicates the possibility of change.
"Maybe some of the present crisis which the church is going through at the moment will lead to new life and new beginnings."
Since he was chosen to head the Diocese of Killaloe in 1994, Dr Walsh has attracted national attention for his campaigning stance on a number of issues.
He made a three-week pilgrimage of reconciliation in 1999 in which he personally visited every church in his diocese to apologise for the church's failure to deal with child sexual abuse by the clergy.
On three separate occasions, he has allowed Traveller families to camp on the grounds of Westbourne Palace, his residence in Ennis, and has spoken out publicly about the shortage of accommodation from Travellers.