As U-S church leaders review the American cardinals’ meeting this week at the Vatican, the bishop of the Sioux City diocese says he’s worked with Iowa priests from the start of his training. When he came to Iowa in 1997 he was asked by his predecessor Bishop Soens asked to take charge of the seminarians. Bishop Daniel DiNardo was appointed head of the diocese in 1998 and says priests entering the seminary are screened thoroughly.There are interviews, and though he’d like more than the current 13, he’s turned away two candidates in the past year. DiNardo has heard the accusations that the church’s demand for celibate priests may lead them to molest children. He says he’d like to see more study, but in 25 years as a priest he hasn’t seen any more sexual dysfunction among celibate priests than among those who are not celibate. The bishops this week reaffirmed their commitment to priestly celibacy.
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