"Surprising" That Conservatives JP2 & B16 Welcomed Married Priests; "looks odd because any Catholic loosening of the celibacy requirement is supposed to come from the left": Gary Wills

Source: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/11/19/when-priests-marry/ (23 Nov. 2019)

Excerpt: It is surprising, at first glance, that this privilege was granted by the very conservative Karol Wojtyła, Pope John Paul II, in 1980, and it was broadened by his equally conservative successor, Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, Benedict XVI, in 2011 (for England) and 2012 (for the United States). This looks odd because any Catholic loosening of the celibacy requirement is supposed to come from the left.