“It’s time to abolish mandatory celibacy,” Bishop Felix Gmür of Basel told the Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag on Sept. 24.

The bishop elaborated: “Celibacy means that I am available to God. But I believe that this sign is no longer understood by society today. Many think: What is wrong with this person, does he have a problem? When a sign is no longer understood, it must be questioned.”

“I have no problem at all imagining married priests,” the 55-year-old bishop added.

Gmür didn’t stop at questioning celibacy; he also waded into another contentious issue: the ordination of women. “The subordination of women in the Catholic Church is incomprehensible to me. Changes are needed there,” he declared.

[Alternate headline: Swiss bishop prepares for conversion to Anglicanism. Priestly celibacy is a practice, and practices can be debated. Whether or not it’s a good idea is another issue, but it’s still a legitimate debate. However, the restriction of priestly ordination to men is doctrine, not practice, and not open to debate regardless of the talk about “synodality.” Even Pope Francis has emphasized repeatedly that this is not open for debate, and CNS includes the links to those statements. I have explained the doctrinal issues on ordination on multiple occasions here, this link has the comprehensive argument. — Ed]