Quotable & Notable

“I had come to conclude that to be a good priest I should be married.”

-- William Manseau, a “suspended” priest, who appeared with his wife Mary, a former nun, on a Barbara Walters special Oct. 17. Their son Peter has written a book Vows: Son of a Priest and a Nun. William said, “Celibacy is a gift of the Holy Spirit. You can’t legislate a gift from God.”

“We’re picking a Supreme Court justice here, not a Sunday school teacher.”

-- The Rev. Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State on using the evangelical faith of Harriet Miers to push her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court

“Communion with Christ in the Eucharist implies accepting the moral responsibility to work with him, in collaboration with others, to transform unjust structures and mentalities into strategies and plans which further the true nature of God’s love for our human family.”

-- Intervention by Sr. Rita Burley, superior general of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, at the bishops’ synod on the Eucharist

“You’d be astounded how many people come up to me … put their hand on their chest and say, ‘I’m Catholic and you did a great thing.’ ”

-- Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham who last month released the results of a 40-month investigation into sex abuse of minors by Catholic clergy

National Catholic Reporter, October 28, 2005