The future of celibacy within the Catholic Church was guaranteed today by the Archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell.
In his homily at the ordination of deacons in Maynooth this morning, Cardinal Connell said: "the faithful living of a celibate life is not a matter of submission to a law with an uncertain future".
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"There is nothing uncertain about its future, as the Synod of Bishops in 1990, confirmed by the Pope’s Apostolic Exhortation, makes clear," he said.
Cardinal Connell was addressing the deacons on the meaning of the priestly vocation.
He added that celibacy was advantageous to the priest as it allowed him to love the Church in a "total and exclusive manner" and said it was "the Church’s will to call to the priesthood those men who have received this gift".
Fr Damien McNiece, spokesman for the Archbishop's office told ireland.comtoday the issue of celibacy was a "stumbling block" for some people with a vocation to join the Church.
He also cited the wider number of professional and educational opportunities available to people today as a reason for the drop-off in the number of vocations over the last number of years.
But Fr McNiece rejected the idea that women could potentially restore the depleted numbers of vocations to the Catholic Church and said "nobody has a right to priesthood".
"Christ himself chose men as his apostles, Fr McNiece said and "the Church feels itself bound by the choice of Christ".
