German Priest Asks Pope to Waive His Vow of Celibacy

One of the values priests of the Catholic Church are supposed to abide by is celibacy, but one German priest is appealing directly to Pope Francis to get him to waive his vow of celibacy after he publicly admitted earlier this year he fathered a child years before he became a priest and gave his life to the church. Priest Stefan Hartmann sent a letter to the Vatican asking the pope to allow him to stay in the priesthood without having to remain celibate.

He wrote the letter “in acknowledgement of my weaknesses and failures, with all due humility and after long consideration of my conscience and personal situation,” and made the case that revoking the celibacy vow would “bring solutions and relief in many cases,” because “there is a human right to partnership.”

Hartmann wants to be able to “go into a marital partnership into which my daughter can be integrated as part of a family,” and believes that striking the celibacy vow would actually help boost the church’s numbers.

[h/t The Independent]
[image via Shutterstock]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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