General Catholic
Why are Latin Catholic priests required to be celibate?
Celibacy is a disciplinary practice, not a doctrine, chosen to imitate Christ's own undivided life and to free priests for total availability to the Church, following St. Paul's own preference for the unmarried state for the sake of the kingdom.
Catholic teaching
The Latin Church requires celibacy of its priests as a sign of undivided love for Christ and his Church, while the Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome ordain married men, showing celibacy is a discipline the Church can and has adjusted rather than an unchangeable dogma.
Biblical foundation
Jesus speaks of those who renounce marriage 'for the sake of the kingdom of heaven' (Matt 19:12), and Paul states his wish that all could be as he is, unmarried, so as to be 'anxious about the affairs of the Lord' without division (1 Cor 7:32-35).
Scripture references
Historical evidence
While some married men were ordained in the early centuries, a strong ascetic and celibate tradition for clergy grew steadily from the fourth century onward, becoming universal discipline in the Latin Church by the time of the Second Lateran Council in 1139, alongside a continuously married Eastern clergy.
The Church Fathers
“Virginity is as much superior to marriage as heaven is to earth, as the angels are to men.”