"I left the priesthood because I decided to get married" (Roe). This statement reveals why many Roman Catholic priests are leaving their church. As many as 100,000 men worldwide have left the Roman Catholic Priesthood in order to wed (Roe). Priests describe the decision to leave the clergy as the most difficult choice they've ever made. The U.S. in 1875 had 60,000 Catholic priests, but by 2001 there were just over 45,000 (Roe). This is appalling and their numbers continue to decline at a rate of about 12 percent a year (Roe). As a result of all of this, Roman Catholic priests should be allowed to marry. This would solve many of the problems in the Roman Catholic Priesthood shortage. .
Opponents contend, first of all, that if a priest decides to get married they would be more caught up in their marriage and family life. Therefore they would have less time to devote to the church. The apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, wrote that unmarried men would be less distracted in their service to God (Roe). Paul also stated, "I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the lord, how to please the lord, but the married man is anxious about the worldly affairs, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided" (Corinthians 7:32-34). Another argument against the marriage of priests, coming from a Catholic woman, Megan Byrnes, is that many don't see how a priest could do all that was needed if they were married (Campisi). Byrnes states, "I see what they do every day and I think, how that would fit in the pressures of a family life. They get assigned certain responsibilities, such as the youth organization; they counsel couples getting married, they budget work, and just so many other duties must be performed. They would never have time to devote to a family and be free to help us when we needed it" (Campisi).