The statement would take the form of a petition addressed to Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and it was to be made public as well.

The petition came to pass, and it received publicity. It asks for "an open discussion on the issue of mandatory/optional celibacy for diocesan priests among the bishops of our nation," and it states that a shortage of priests is a "grave threat to the Church in our country" and that mandatory celibacy is a "major obstacle" to men responding to God's call to become priests.

There is no reason for parishioners to feel sorry for "lonely priests who have had this burden foisted on them as a condition for ordination," as another priest put it. They embraced the celibate life freely when they were ordained, and most are quite happy living the life of priestly celibacy.

In all, 113 priests signed the petition -- a quarter of the 460 active and retired priests in the archdiocese. Here is some information about that quarter of the priests who signed the petition and to state what underlies the thought of at least some of the three-quarters of the priests who did not sign it.

Some people might assume that the priests who would like to see celibacy become optional are the youngest ones, who made the promise of celibacy relatively recently. In fact, of the 113 priests who signed the petition, five were ordained before 1950; 87 were ordained in the 1950s, '60s or '70s, 12 in the 1980s, and seven in 1990 and afterward. (The ordination years of two other priests were unavailable.)

Since a man is usually at least 26 when he is ordained, many of those who signed are already retired. Many were around the last time a push for optional celibacy was made, which Pope Paul VI answered in 1967 by reaffirming the value of the discipline of celibacy. The issue has been discussed many times with the same conclusion.

The majority of priests did not request a discussion about celibacy. They support the Church's discipline and believe in the positive value of celibacy for themselves and the Church.

Some of us are concerned that the petition is likely to be confusing for many of the faithful who could assume that all priests would like to see the requirement of celibacy abolished.

Some say that celibacy was something added to the life of priests within the past thousand years. As George Weigel wrote in "The Courage to Be Catholic": "A law, whether civil or ecclesiastical, is often the last step in the crystallization of a community's convictions on a subject. According to contemporary scholars, that is what happened with Lateran II's legislation on celibacy in 1129. The law of clerical celibacy adopted in the 12th century gave legal form to a longstanding practice that had been promoted and defended as an important facet of priestly life for centuries. The practice of priestly celibacy in fact goes back to the Church's origins. It was not an invention of the Middle Ages."

Celibacy for priests is deeply connected to Christ. A priest is called to be alter Christus (another Christ). He participates in the priesthood of Jesus, who transformed the world through his death and resurrection. While Jesus raised marriage to the dignity of a sacrament, he "also opened a new way, in which the human creature adheres wholly and directly to the Lord," according to the 1967 encyclical letter by Paul VI called Sacerdotalis Coelibatus. This is meant to show the new reality of a world transformed.

Jesus lived a celibate life, and priests are called "to share with him his very condition of living," as the pope wrote. They do this for the sake of the kingdom of God.

Priestly celibacy is promised not out of obligation, but out of love. In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church (often known to the world as the "Roman Catholic Church"), a man who is discerning a call to the priesthood also has to discern a call to live in the celibate state -- and then promise in freedom to live in that state.

We have lots of men in the seminary -- in fact, within a year and a half we could have as many as 22 new priests. Their very presence, and that of all young priests, proves that celibacy is not "a major obstacle" to men joining the priesthood. They all know that they will live the life of a priest in the celibate state as a witness to the kingdom of God.

When a man is ordained a deacon six months or a year before being ordained a priest, the bishop asks him, "Are you resolved, as a sign of your interior dedication to Christ, to remain celibate for the sake of the kingdom and in lifelong service to God and mankind?" The candidate answers, "I am!" The bishop adds, "May the Lord help you to persevere in this commitment." And the Lord will help us; I am confident of it. Priests need their parishioners' prayerful support as well. Most priests see celibacy as a gift, as a wonderful reminder that we are on the road to something even greater than this world, and they intend to live it faithfully.