Pope Confirms Celibacy 'Obligatory' For Catholic Priests

VATICAN CITY (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI has today confirmed in a letter to the Roman Catholic Church that priestly celibacy "remains obligatory," invoking Christ's example.

"I reaffirm the beauty and importance of a priestly life lived in celibacy as a sign expressing total and exclusive devotion to Christ, to the Church and to the Kingdom of God," reads the apostolic exhortation, the first of Benedict's papacy.

"I therefore confirm that it remains obligatory in the Latin tradition," the pope wrote in the document issued by the Vatican.

"There is a need to reaffirm the profound meaning of priestly celibacy, which is rightly considered a priceless treasure," he said.

"The fact that Christ himself, the eternal priest, lived his mission even to the sacrifice of the Cross in the state of virginity constitutes the sure point of reference for understanding the meaning of the tradition of the Latin Church," the pope's exhortation said.

The text, reflecting the conclusions of an October 2005 synod (assembly) of bishops, also reaffirms that Catholics who divorce and remarry are barred from taking communion, unless they "commit to living their relationship ... as friends, as brother and sister."

In addition, the pope exhorts "Catholic politicans and legislators ... to introduce and support laws inspired by values grounded in human nature," and urges them to reject legislation in favour of abortion, euthanasia or homosexual unions. "These values are not negotiable," he wrote.

The exhortation comes as draft leglislation is before parliament that would give legal status to unmarried couples including gays, an issue that is deeply divisive for the ruling centre-left government in mainly Catholic Italy.

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