John Paul I, Celibacy, Thief in Night

John Paul I Have Changed Celibacy?

DEAR FATHER, IS THERE ANY BASIS FOR THE STATEMENT THAT IF JOHN PAUL I HAD LIVED HE WOULD HAVE CHANGED THE CHURCH'S POSITION FOR PRIESTS REGARDING CELIBACY? THANK-YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSE. CARL **********

Dear Carl,

None that I know of. Did the person making the statement have good evidence?

Some of these rumors (including that Pope John Paul I was going to change the teaching on birth control) come from David Yallop's book, In God's Name, which claimed Vatican insiders assassinated the pope to prevent him from changing church teaching. Several years ago John Cornwell wrote a book called Thief in the Night which soundly refutes Yallop's conspiracy theory. Unfortunately Cornwell himself has fallen into a less than sober approach to history.*

Carl Sagan used to remind us that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. (Of course, he didn't always adhere to that sound principle when it came to his own sweeping philosophy.)

Sincerely,

Fr. Phil Bloom

*See Hitler's Pope: Comic Book Approach to Church History