A South American bishop has called for “optional celibacy” for priests in the wake of revelations that a gay Jesuit missionary sexually abused about 85 boys.
Bishop Eugenio Cóter suggested the rule of priestly celibacy contributed to the abuse of scores of adolescents by Fr Alfonso Pedrajas, a Spanish priest who died in 2009, and said that “changes must be made” in the Church.
A sexual relationship allows for "an integration of the affective, sexual, bodily dimension", the Bishop of Pando and head of the Communication Commission of the Bolivian Bishops’ Conference told Erbol radio.
