On the occasion of Pope Benedict XVI's World Youth Day visit, Geraldine Doogue in a two part Compass special examines thorny issues facing the Catholic Church in Australia: the crisis in the priesthood, and the role of women in the Church.
In the first part of the series, Sex or Celibacy the lack of priests for regular Sunday worship is examined. Priestly candidates are now being brought in from overseas and ex-Anglican priests are being recruited. Geraldine Doogue meets some who've left the priesthood and some who've stayed. She asks: In order to save the Church's future should celibacy be a thing of the past?
ABC1, Sunday July 20 at 10.10pm (rpt ABC2, Friday July 25 at 6.00pm).
