The Archbishop even indicated that he had taken back his wife, Ms Maria Sung, who, at a church service in the US, was seen wearing a badge that read: Mrs Milingo.  During the service, Archbishop Milingo said he believes that marriage is forever. Although he is not breaking new ground – in view of reports that the first Pope, Apostle Peter, was married – the Archbishop has stirred the Catholic world with his zeal to change its position on celibacy for its priests.

Shortly after Archbishop Milingo's mass, the Vatican said it was not taking his campaign lightly and was considering taking disciplinary action against the Zambian priest.  At the time, the Holy See described the move by Archbishop Milingo, formerly of Lusaka Diocese, as deplorable. It asked its worshippers not to get carried away by his "outbursts".

A statement by the Holy See said the church's position on celibacy for its clergy was well known. The matter was not even subject to debate. Catholic clergy in Kenya reacted to Archbishop Milingo's utterances with mixed feelings. "He speaks for himself. Others before him rebelled against the church's stand on celibacy but they did not succeed. The authority on the celibacy rule comes from Jesus Christ.

He was the model on which it was founded," said the Seed magazine editor, Fr Luigi Anataloni (Gigi). But with the publication of such books as The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, The Holy Blood and Holy Grail by Michael Baigent and The Bloodline of the Holy Grail by Laurence Gardner, which appear to suggest that Jesus married and had a family, it remains to be seen whether arguments in favour of celibacy among Catholic clerics can hold.

During his papacy, Pope John Paul II put paid to the debate when he said that he did not have the authority to allow priests to marry. In his encyclical on celibacy, he said: "The synod does not wish to leave any doubt in the mind of anyone regarding the church's firm will to maintain the law that demands perpetual and freely chosen celibacy for present and future candidates for priestly ordination." According to him, virginity or celibacy were precious gifts of divine grace given to some by God to devote themselves more easily to Him alone.

"In virginity and celibacy, chastity retains its original meaning, that is, of human sexuality lived as a genuine sign of, and precious service to, the love of communion and gift of self to others," Pope John Paul II said. He said celibacy had survived despite all the difficulties and objections raised over the centuries. This was proof that those who take the vow of chastity have been called by God.

But other books, particularly A Thief in the Night , which detailed how the Pope's predecessor was killed barely a month after being elected to office, showed that there were some bishops, especially in the US, who were known to have wives and children, and against whom the church had failed to take disciplinary action.

During his papacy, Pope John Paul II put paid to the debate when he said that he did not have the authority to allow priests to marry. In his encyclical on celibacy, he said: "The synod does not wish to leave any doubt in the mind of anyone regarding the church's firm will to maintain the law that demands perpetual and freely chosen celibacy for present and future candidates for priestly ordination."

Archbishop Milingo's sentiments and his subsequent excommunication come at a time when the Catholic Church is struggling with a global shortage of priests. There have been reports that it is considering allowing ordination of married men into priesthood. But there is a catch. Their reputations must exemplify the church's teaching and they should live "as brother and sister" with their former spouses.

The proposal was put before the first Synod of Pope Benedict XVI's tenure early this year but it is not known whether the Vatican will buy the idea, which is reported to be popular among Catholics in Africa and in the Americas. During the synod, Kenya was represented by Eldoret Bishop Cornelius Korir, the then chairman of the Kenya Episcopal Conference.

Without identifying which bishops supported the proposal, it was reported that some synod participants "put forward the request to ordain married men of proven faith and virtue, also known as " viri probati ", Latin for "proven men", a term theologians use to describe older, married men. Although the proposal was unlikely to gain backing from Rome, it struck a chord in regions like the Americas, Africa and parts of Europe where the shortage is felt more acutely, the National Catholic Reporter said.

Other reports indicate that the Vatican is also considering a proposal to allow gay men into the priesthood – if they show they have been celibate for at least three years. As a rule, it takes a minimum seven years and a maximum 10 for one to graduate as a Catholic priest. Still, some find it difficult to obey the strict rules that the church imposes.

Some of those who quit opt to marry while others chose to remain single. In Kenya, Fr Godfrey Siundi caused a stir in the church only a few months ago after he decided to marry his long-term lover with whom he had a child. But no sooner had he tied the knot in a civil ceremony than he was promptly excommunicated from the church. And in May, Archbishop Ndingi Mwana a'Nzeki told priests to either stick to the vow of celibacy or quit.

Catholic doctrine state that priests who fail to observe celibacy should be defrocked and barred from celebrating mass or administering the sacraments. They cannot be ordained bishops or appointed as cardinals. Fr Gigi said recently that in the history of the Catholic church, there have been exceptions where married couples choose to forgo their conjugal rights and the church gives them a chance to serve as priests. 

"In such cases, a husband may choose to join a monastery and his wife a nunhood," he said. There have been cases of married Orthodox priests who have been accepted by the Catholic church as clergymen. Fr Gigi says: "A married Anglican priest who converts to the Catholic faith is also accepted as long as he does not continue having sexual relations with his wife. The couple is only allowed to relate to each other as brother and sister." 

This arrangement, according to some analysts, is called a "Josephite marriage" and is based on the belief that Joseph and Mary (the mother of Jesus) mutually abstained from sexual relations. Although the Vatican has left no doubt about its stance on married priests, some analysts say the position is made more difficult by the fact that celibacy is less of a doctrine and more of a discipline and a tradition. 

This practice assumes that the priest is dedicated to his love for God, the church, his faith and his calling. But he is not bound by any specific law. According to this view, a priest who marries is distracted from a singular, spiritual bond with Christ, fidelity to God and his calling to priesthood.

By excommunicating Archbishop Milingo and rejecting as invalid his ordination of four married clerics, the church has made it clear that the vow of celibacy for its priests is here to stay, at least for now.

Meanwhile, leaders of the Catholic church have dismissed claims by a new splinter group, Lefbvrite movement, that it was not ex-communicated by the Vatican. Leading clerics including Nairobi Archbishop Ndingi Mwana a' Nzeki, Nyeri Archbishop John Njue and the Secretary of the Kenya Episcopal Conference, Fr Vincent Wambugu, said the order to ex-communicate the group had not been lifted. The group is headed by Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos Dario