"Sex is as natural as God intended it to be," said Lito Banayo, a former political adviser of Estrada. "And surely to impose abstinence upon it defies human nature itself."
"I have always believed priestly celibacy just doesn't hold water or logic," added Teodoro Benigno, a veteran journalist and former government official. "Men are men. And if they succumb to temptation, it's not because they are bad."
Monsignor Nico Bautista, an outspoken priest, said Bacani was a victim of historical error "because compulsory celibacy is an error, it's a departure from the mind and heart of Christ."
Bautista cited a passage in the gospel of Matthew in which Jesus said that celibacy was optional.
"Let those who can take it, take it," he said. "Those who can't, don't."
Bautista said that unless the Church squarely confronts the issue of celibacy, more priests would fall into the same predicament.
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