LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A big change could be coming for priests in Louisville as Pope Francis considers allowing them to marry.

For decades, celibacy for priests has been an ongoing discussion within the Catholic community. It's a topic the Pope brought back up for discussion this month, seemingly opening the door to marriage. 

Louisville has a large Catholic community, with strong traditions. 

Father Bill Hammer, who serves as priest at St. Margaret Mary, said he knew at a young age that he wanted to be a priest while attending his home parish Holy Trinity in Louisville. 

"I've been a priest for 43 years now," Hammer said. "I really admired the priests in our parish, and I got to thinking oh, I might like to be somewhat like them when (I) grow up."

After attending school in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., Hammer, a Louisville native, was ordained at 24. Since then, he has served as priest at Basilica of Saint Joseph Proto-Cathedral in Nelson County, and at St. Michael's Parish in Fairfield.

"It is a process," he said. "It takes quite some time and you do want to try to be confident, you know, going in, this is part of, what I understand is going to be called and asked of me to do."

One of those big asks: remaining celibate.

"That did not deter me," Hammer said. "It was just a given. You know, I knew that going in."

But now, Pope Francis may open the door for husbands in the priesthood.

"It would not not be a problem for me, personally," Hammer said. "I would welcome the addition of additional people considering the call to be serving in the church and in the role of priests." 

A 2019 PEW Research Center poll said more than six in 10 U.S. Catholics said that the church should allow priests to marry.

Hammer said the topic of whether celibacy would be optional was discussed when he was in the seminary in the late 1970s.

"It's nothing from scripture that prevents it, so it's always been a church discipline, you know, kind of a church, human-made rule, and so it's always been kind of up for discussion as to whether that would be the case or not. So, it wasn't an option for me. I knew that going in," he said. "We knew that that requirement could change because it was, again, human-made, you know, not divine revealed."

Hammer said by allowing priests to marry, more men might consider the commitment. On the other hand, he said, being celibate allows them to relocate to other parishes on short notice.

"I think the fact that the questions have come up now is, is it now, at this time in church history, in the best interest of the church, to consider it as an option," he said. "And so, I will leave that to the Holy Spirit, and the people, you know, in our church who are called to be our leaders and discerning that."

Hammer said if the Pope allows future priests to marry, this would not change anything for him or current priests like him because they already took an oath, vowing to a lifetime of celibacy when they attended seminary.

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