> The discipline of clerical celibacy in the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church (at least one non-Latin Rite Church in union with Rome existed at the time, and there are more now) was a explicitly a adopted in response to repeated scandal, not theological necessity (which is why it is a discipline of the Latin Rite and not a universal law of the Church.)

Oh, well there we go. As a protestant (second time noting that in this thread) I've always wondered about why the Pope at least had to be celibate when Peter himself was married.

This explanation makes much more sense -- it wasn't a doctrinal requirement, but a sort of external job requirement.