<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/86bca7f8-b132-402f-b3ab-27801473a4ba/2FC5705C-32AC-470A-9859-92943CA00D20/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6445313.stm" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6445313.stm" style="font-size: 11px;">news.bbc.co.uk</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6445313.stm"><SPAN class="ds"><SPAN class="lu">Last Updated: </SPAN>Tuesday, 13 March 2007, 13:33 GMT</SPAN></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6445313.stm"><DIV class="sh"> Celibacy 'obligatory' for priests </DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6445313.stm"><FONT size="2"> <TABLE width="203" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" align="right"><TBODY><TR><TD><DIV> <IMG width="203" vspace="0" hspace="0" height="152" border="0" alt="Pope Benedict XVI (file picture)" src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42674000/jpg/_42674409_pope_203body_ap.jpg" /> <DIV class="cap">The Pope says celibacy is a blessing</DIV> </DIV> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><B>Pope Benedict XVI has confirmed that celibacy "remains obligatory" for Roman Catholic priests.</B> </FONT></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6445313.stm"><FONT size="2">He also restated the ban on Communion for divorced Catholics who remarry, and on abortion, euthanasia and gay unions which he said were "not negotiable". </FONT></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6445313.stm"><P> <FONT size="2">Draft legislation is before Italy's parliament that would give legal status to unmarried couples including gays. </FONT></P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6445313.stm"><P> <FONT size="2">Catholics who divorce and remarry are barred from taking communion, unless they "commit to living their relationship... as friends, as brother and sister". </FONT></P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6445313.stm"><P> <FONT size="2">He said celibacy was not a prescribed doctrine, but self-imposed discipline. </FONT></P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6445313.stm"><P> <FONT size="2">Roughly 150,000 men worldwide have left the priesthood to marry. The Church considers them outcasts. </FONT></P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6445313.stm"><P> <FONT size="2">But in the Middle Ages there was no formal ban on marriage for the clergy. </FONT></P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6445313.stm"><P> <FONT size="2">In fact many Popes had wives, including the 9th-Century Pope Hadrian II. </FONT></P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/2FC5705C-32AC-470A-9859-92943CA00D20/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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