Pope Francis requests Roman Catholic priests be given the right to get married
Pope Francis has requested that Roman Catholic priests be given the right to get married.
The request applies to priests in Brazil, and is on the agenda for an upcoming synod (church council) in the Amazon region.
The
controversial move would address the critical shortage of men joining
the priesthood – but is likely to drive divisions through the church by
enraging conservative factions.
A
small number of married Roman Catholic priests already exist, including
previously married Anglican vicars who have joined the church.
A
request to lift the ban on marriage was made by Brazilian
bishop Cardinal Claudio Hummes, who reportedly asked the Pope to
consider ‘viri probati’, meaning married of great faith, as priests.
Derry
priest Father Paddy O’Kane suggested that Pope Francis may move to end
celibacy earlier this month, saying there was support amongst the church
for the idea.
Fr
O’Kane cited Brazilian liberation theologian Leonardo Boff, who said:
“The Brazilian bishops, especially the pope’s own personal friend
Cardinal Claudio Hummes, have expressly requested Pope Francis to enable
married priest in Brazil to return to pastoral ministry.
“I
have recently heard that the pope wants to fulfil this request – as an
experimental, preliminary phase for the moment confined to Brazil.”
Earlier
this year the Pope told Die Zeit newspaper: ‘We must consider if ‘viri
probati’ is a possibility.
Then we must determine what tasks they can
perform, for example, in remote communities.’
Francis and his predecessor Benedict XVI have both stated that celibacy is not a matter of inflexible church dogma unlike, and could be debated.
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