Pope Benedict XVI needs to break with tradition and allow priests to marry

Spare a thought for the typical Catholic priest. His image has been blackened by successive child abuse scandals, first in Ireland and America, now in Germany, Holland and Italy. His vocation is vanishing – only seven men were ordained in England and Wales last year – and as a result, his work-load has multiplied. With several parishes to tend, his isolation grows. Hardly the kind of vibrant and healthy culture to inspire men with the strength to deal with society's ills.

Clearly this is unsustainable. The church needs to grapple with the issue at the heart of its scandals: sex. Rome must review its position on celibacy and an all-male priesthood. When a priest is locked into a solitary lifestyle as part of his contract with his church, rather than with his God, resentment will surely follow. In a lonely and sometimes hostile environment, that resentment will fester.

It is now an open secret that many priests have live-in lovers, with parishioners sympathetically keeping quiet. Priests involved in homosexual relations have been more covert, but anonymous polls have repeatedly showed that homosexuality is common among the clergy.

These shadow-lives need to be allowed into the open. There is now hope that they will. The arch-traditionalist cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna is calling for an urgent examination of the celibate priesthood. The issue of women priests should also get an airing. As we report today, the Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, has published an analysis that links systemic cover-up of scandal to the dearth of women in the hierarchy. Allowing women priests, as the Church of England has done for over 15 years, would blow open the doors to an establishment canthat, in its homogeneity, has become dangerously impenetrable and detached.

It is tradition that dictates that the priesthood should be celibate and all male. Pope Benedict XVI can break with that tradition. He should.