why was?

[ml5363]

Epaul considered first pope when he was married?

 

[ViaCrucis]

Epaul considered first pope when he was married?

Peter, not Paul. Paul was unmarried and celibate. Peter was married, and Peter was the first bishop of Rome (and thus, according to Roman Catholics, the first pope).

Many ancient bishops were married, so that's not really a problem. Clerical celibacy is a discipline or custom that developed in antiquity and the middle ages, not one that was ever regarded as Christian doctrine or dogma.

Edited to add: There are practical and sensible reasons why the custom developed. In theory it avoids the potential for bishoprics to become hereditary. Nepotism has been a recurring problem in different parts of Christian history, it's also why in the middle ages the method of choosing a new bishop of Rome was changed. At one point the bishop of Rome (the pope) could name his own successor, and there was a particularly nasty period where popes were sleeping with concubines and producing offspring, declaring their offspring were "nephews" and appointing their "nephew" successor to the chair of St. Peter. That's shameful. The election of a new pope was removed from the pope altogether by having the college of cardinals elect the new successor following the death of the pope.

While celibacy doesn't fix these problems (as can be seen by the above), it can help mitigate against them. It's certainly not bullet proof.

-CryptoLutheran