Do priests have to be virgins?

Do priests have to be virgins?
Do priests have to be virgins?

There’s a long church history on the question of celibacy and the clergy, some of which you can see in the New Catholic Encyclopedia: bit.ly/bc-celibacy. The early Church and Eastern Christianity had/have married clergy, and the Western Church recognizes them as priests. bit.ly/bc-celibacy2. Saint Augustine, prior to being a priest and then bishop, was apparently sexually active. (Confessions book 3, chapter 1): bit.ly/bc-celibacy3. So no, virginity is apparently not a requirement, but a vow of celibacy is. The Wall has reached out to other walls on campus for additional comment.