Pope Francis calls Catholic Church’s ban on priests having sex ‘temporary’ opening door to review of 1,000-year-old celibacy rules

The Catholic Church is open to reviewing its thousand-year-old practice of celibacy, Pope Francis has suggested.

He said the ban was only ‘temporary’ and there was also ‘no contradiction’ for a priest to marry.

Celibacy was made a requirement by the Catholic Church in the 11th-century for financial reasons, as clergy without children were more likely to leave their wealth to the church.

The Vatican enforces the rule among priests – but there are growing calls to end the ban.

It comes after Germany’s Catholic Church voted for a resolution requesting that the Pope end the obligation for priests to be celibate.

Read more: Pope Francis calls Catholic Church’s ban on priests having sex ‘temporary’ opening door to review of 1,000-year-old celibacy rules