Catholicism is the only major branch of Christianity to require its priests to be unmarried in order to be ordained. Protestantism and Orthodoxy -- the other two major branches of Christianity -- allow their priests to be married before they are ordained.
Be that as it may, scores of Protestant priests who converted to Catholicism have been allowed to become Catholic priests and remain married. The same can be said of hundreds of Catholic priests of the Eastern Rite -- or Greek Catholic priests as they are often called -- since they are also allowed to remain married while serving as Catholic priests.
Consequently, there is an inconsistency -- a double standard, if you will -- with respect to priests being married in the Catholic Church. This being the case, it seems it would only be fair for the Catholic Church to give all its priests the choice of being married, and not just some priests.
Just why does the Catholic Church require its priests to be unmarried before they can be ordained? The major reason is that the Catholic Church believes a priest owes most -- and ideally all -- of his allegiance to God. In other words, having a wife and family would require a priest to devote much of his time to family life that would otherwise have been devoted to God.
On the other hand, Protestant and Orthodox religions encourage their priests to be married, because they believe that marriage provides priests with a first-hand experience of family life. The experience of marriage, then, will permit priests to counsel their parishioners more effectively than priests who are not married.
In any event, the Catholic Church needs to reconsider its celibacy policy as a prerequisite for a man to be ordained a priest. Indeed, giving prospective priests the option of being married before they are ordained is the correct course for the Catholic Church to follow.
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Many centuries ago, priests in the Catholic Church were married. However, due to economical reasons (The Church had difficulty sustaining the priests and many of their very large families financially.), there was the institution of the rule that Catholic priests remain unmarried. However, some Catholics today don't seem to realize that the rule was due to economical reasons, and they believe that priests should be married to God. However, many of the apostles were married. (Do you remember when Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law from an ailment?) I think it would be great if the Catholic Church allowed married men to be priests, but I don't forsee it happening anytime soon. (not in the next several decades)
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