Allow priests to marry - Archbishop O'Brien

Britain's most senior Roman Catholic priest, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, says many priests within the Catholic Church struggle to cope with celibacy and therefore should be permitted to marry and have children if they wish to do so.

He made this comment in an interview with the BBC’s Glenn Campbell in Scotland. According to the Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, it would be within the scope of the new Pope to consider whether the Roman Catholic Church should change its stance on other issues which were not of divine origin.

Offering explanations, Cardinal O’Brien said "for example the celibacy of the clergy, whether priests should marry - Jesus didn't say that.”

"There was a time when priests got married, and of course we know at the present time in some branches of the catholic church - priests can get married, so that is obviously not of divine origin and it could get discussed again," the respected Archbishop added.

He also mentioned that he had never personally thought about whether he wanted to get married as he had been "too busy" with his duties.

But he added: "In my time there was no choice and you didn't really consider it too much, it was part of being a priest. When I was a young boy, the priest didn't get married and that was it.

"I would be very happy if others had the opportunity of considering whether or not they could or should get married.

"It is a free world and I realise that many priests have found it very difficult to cope with celibacy as they lived out their priesthood and felt the need of a companion, of a woman, to whom they could get married and raise a family of their own."

Cardinal O'Brien will have a say in who succeeds Pope Benedict XVI when he officially steps down on February 28.