Pope Retired Against Priestly Marriage

Retired Pope Benedict XVI stood up for priestly singleness in the Catholic Church after his successor, Pope Francis, is considering facilitating the ban on marriage.

Benedict made this appeal in a book whose coauthor is Cardinal Robert Sarah.

He comes in response to the proposal to allow married men to become priests in the Amazon region.

Pope Benedict, who withdrew from office in 2013, said he could not remain silent on this issue.

In the book, he says that singleness, an old tradition of centuries within the church, has a <x0-second major” because it allows priests to focus on their duties.

According to him, “does not appear to be able to realise both professions simultaneously”.

It is rare for Benedict, who has been the first pope to resign in nearly 600 years, to intervene in church affairs.

The Vatican has not yet come up with comments on Benedict's book.