Abolition of mandatory celibacy for priests? "Let my successor arrange it, if he deems it appropriate," says Pope Francis: clarifying, once again, that he will not be the one to do it. Bergoglio explains this in the book-interview 'You are not alone: challenges, answers, hopes', by Francesca Ambrogetti and Sergio Rubin, released in Argentina earlier this year and now translated into Italian by Salani: "Of course, it is clear that if one lives it badly, celibacy is a torture, it becomes impossibile. But it is no less true that if one lives it with the fruitfulness of the ministry one has chosen, it is not only bearable but also beautiful. It is obvious that it takes a calling". After all, contrary to popular belief, married priests already exist in the Catholic Church. The monastic discipline of celibacy is not a dogma and applies only in the Latin Church, while in Eastern Catholic churches there is no obligation. As a matter of fact, Francis had already made clear that he did not intend to change the rules of the Latin Church on the flight back from Panama on January 27, 2019: "It is my thing, something personal, I will not do it. I am reminded of that phrase of Paul VI: 'I prefer to give my life before changing the law of celibacy'".