Compulsory priestly celibacy is not the cause of the shortage of Catholic priests in the world, according to a leading cardinal from Central America.
Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga told journalists at Maynooth, Co Kildare, that the problem was the reluctance of people to make a life-long commitment.
He said the same problem was to be seen in marriage where many people have difficulty in making a life-long commitment.
The cardinal, who is the Primate of Honduras, was speaking at a media briefing to mark the opening of an international Symposium on the Eucharist.
The event will be attended by approximately 400 participants over the next three days.
It is a curtain raiser to the International Eucharistic Congress, which opens in Dublin next Sunday.
