When I took “The History of the Catholic Church” at Santa Clara University, we were taught that priests were able to marry initially, but because the dispersal of the priests’ property to the their rightful heirs became a problem for the Church, the Church decided that without heirs, the priests’ property would stay in the Church - and the authorities eliminated marriage as an option. It was about property rights. I heard it from my teacher, a priest, himself.

Results: lots of pent up testosterone -for centuries, and some very unholy consequences. IMHO. The priest of my former parish in California, (I was raised Catholic) was removed from his position while under investigation for inappropriate relations with children.