Two Views on Clerical Celibacy

Neither man Catholic or church-loving.

Friedrich Nietzsche, Die fröhliche Wissenschaft, 5.358 (tr. Walter Kaufmann):

He [Luther] gave back to the priest sexual intercourse with women; but three quarters of the reverence of which the common people, especially the women among the common people, are capable, rests on the faith that a person who is an exception at this point will be an exception in other respects as well.

Samuel Butler, The Way of All Flesh, chapter 26:

I have often thought that the Church of Rome does wisely in not allowing her priests to marry. Certainly it is a matter of common observation in England that the sons of clergymen are frequently unsatisfactory.

To one, a sort of ennobling thing. To the other, a practical matter. To both, worthwhile.