Msgr. Thomas Green , Stephan Kuttner Distinguished Professor of Canon Law, and Kurt Martens , professor, canon law, were quoted in an Atlantic story on Pope Francis saying he's open to the possibility of ordaining married men as priests. See below.
From: The Atlantic Date: March 10, 2017Author:Emma Green
... Should the pope decide to change the celibacy tradition, that would come with significant challenges. "Someone who is preparing for the priesthood now has about a six-year training before him. How will he do that with other men who have ... a family?" said Kurt Martens, a professor of canon law at the Catholic University of America. "You're looking into a number of difficulties that need to be studied first before it's a done deal. Just saying that you're open to discussion doesn't mean that you've caused a revolution.
"In general, though, Catholic priests remain celibate according to the traditions of the Church. "Celibacy is what you'd call a disciplinary norm," Martens said. Unlike the question of women serving in the priesthood, he added, priestly celibacy is not a matter of dogma. Thomas Green, another professor of canon law at Catholic University, noted that while celibacy is "a strong part of the Latin tradition," meaning the Catholic Church in the West, "it really wasn't concrete until around the late 1100s and 1200s." ...