ANSWER: Wives!

 

The Council of Elvira required celibacy for all three levels of ordained men.  Attended by 18 bishops, the council was the first to be held in Spain.

The Council of Elvira, held between 295 A.D. and 302 A.D., produced records that provide important clues as to the Christian community in the West just two centuries after the last Apostle died.

Celibacy was long considered a higher spiritual state than marriage (Mt. 19:12, 1 Cor 7:8, 1 Cor. 7:32-35, 1 Tim. 5:9-12)

Celibacy of the Clergy

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CATHOLIC TRIVIA