AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun
By Paul Mulvey
From: AAP
October 22, 2012
A FORMER priest has called for the Catholic Church to accept married clergy to help change a culture which has contributed to sexual abuse of children.
Des Cahill says the Victorian government should amend the Equal Opportunity Act to remove the exemption allowing religious organisations to bar people from serving in the church because of their marital status.
Professor Cahill told a Victorian parliamentary inquiry the reform would require “major changes” in the church and admitted it would be a long shot.
But allowing married clergy in the Catholic Church could be the “circuit breaker” needed to change the whole culture of what he called “celibate caste clericalism”, he said.
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