Predictably, the Vatican issued a simple "no comment" yesterday in response to last weekend's call from Bishop Willie Walsh for the Catholic Church to reconsider its teaching on the celibacy of the priesthood.
Contacted by The Irish Times, Holy See spokesman Don Ciro Benedettini confirmed that there would not be any official Vatican reaction to Dr Walsh's comments.
In an interview with the Sunday Tribune, the Bishop of Killaloe had suggested that there was room in the church for both celibate and married priests, commenting: "I have known some very fine priests who have left the priesthood because they found the challenge of celibacy not life-giving for them. Men like that are a great loss to the ministerial priesthood."
It is highly unusual for the Holy See to issue an immediate, public response to any questioning of its teachings by a priest or bishop. Serious breaks with church orthodoxy might be dealt with by a series of internal disciplinary proceedings but only in the event of systematic and public defiance of the church's magisterium, its authentic interpretation of the word of God.
Such action, however, does not apply in the case of Dr Walsh. Commentators have pointed out that when Bishop Brendan Comiskey of Ferns called for a debate on the celibacy issue in a newspaper column 10 years ago, his comments prompted a summons to Rome. Ten years on, circumstances have changed much, with the issue of celibacy no longer a taboo subject.
The Vatican's Synod of Bishops discussed it during its most recent assembly in October, concluding that the road leading to married priests is "a path not to follow".
It stated: "The synod fathers have affirmed the importance of the inestimable gift of ecclesiastical celibacy in the practice of the Latin Church."
Lest anyone had failed to get the point, Pope Benedict XVI underlined it during a canonisation ceremony in October.
"Contemplation of the Eucharist must urge all members of the church, in the first place the priests, ministers of the Eucharist, to revive their commitment of faith.
"The celibacy that the priests received as a precious gift and the sign of the undivided love towards God and the neighbour is founded upon the Eucharistic mystery, celebrated and adored."
Although Dr Walsh's call for a rethink of celibacy marks a step in a direction totally opposed to where Pope Benedict is currently leading the church, his call has prompted little fuss in Rome.
At best, his comments have fallen on indifferent, if not deaf, ears.