Letter

Celibacy of Catholic priests

Points of information

BMJ 2009; 338 doi: 10.1136/bmj.b2619 (Published 29 June 2009)
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b2619

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  1. Paul W Keeley, consultant palliative physician1
  1. 1Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow G4 0SF
  1. Paul.Keeley{at}ggc.scot.nhs.uk

    Sexual abuse by clergy was condemned by the Council of Elvira in 306 (the first recorded case of such a condemnation), but this was over 700 years before mandatory clerical celibacy. This rather undermines Delamothe’s argument about priestly celibacy1: sexual abuse of young people by those in authority has been around …

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