Pope opens debate on requirement of celibacy for Catholic priests

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VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has officially opened a meeting of bishops that will debate whether the Catholic Church should relax its millennial requirement of celibacy for priests.

The potentially momentous debate pits those who say the ordination of married men could ease the church’s clergy shortage against those who warn that it would undermine the distinctiveness of the priesthood.

In his Sunday homily at Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, the Pope did not specifically refer to the celibacy debate, but generally called for innovation in the ministry of the church: “ If everything continues as before, if we spend our days “this is the way it was always done” then the gift vanishes, smothered in the ashes of fear and concern to defend the status quo. “

This month’s Vatican meeting, called the Synod, is dedicated to “new paths for the church” in the Amazon region of South America. Organizers highlighted the ecological topics on the agenda, including deforestation and other threats to indigenous communities.

The most controversial ‘new path’ planned for the next three weeks is the possibility of ordaining married men to serve as priests in the sparsely populated area, where Catholic parishes sometimes go for months without a visit from a priest. .

The official synod working document calls for considering the ordination of “elders, preferably indigenous, respected and accepted by their community, even if they have an existing and stable family, in order to ensure the availability of the sacraments that accompany and support the Christian life. “Such candidates for the priesthood are known as viri probati, which in Latin means” tried men. “

The Pope said the “door is always open” to married priests in remote places like the Amazon or the Pacific Islands. He also said he needed to pray and think more about the matter.

The Catholic / Priest ratio in South America is 7,200 to one, nearly four times the ratio in North America, according to Vatican statistics for 2017. In parts of the Amazon, the ratio is over 8 000 for one. The global ratio has increased sharply in recent decades, from 1,900 to 1 in 1980 to around 3,200 to 1 in 1980.

On Thursday, during a press conference to present the synod, Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, former archbishop of São Paulo, lamented that Catholics in the Amazon often do not have access to the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, in because of the shortage of priests. “The Church draws her life from the Eucharist”, declared the cardinal, quoting Saint John Paul II.

The Catholic Church regularly ordains married men as deacons, members of the clergy who can officiate at baptisms, weddings and funerals. But deacons cannot celebrate Mass or hear confessions, which are essential elements of Catholic life.

Married men serve as priests in the two dozen Eastern Catholic churches that follow the Pope to Ukraine, Lebanon and elsewhere. In recent decades, some married Protestant ministers, mostly Anglicans, have been ordained priests after becoming Catholics. But in the Roman Catholic Church, to which the vast majority of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics belong, celibacy has been the norm since the 11th century.

Not all members of this month’s synod believe that expanding the pool of potential priests by ordaining married men is the solution to the shortage of priests in the Amazon.

Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, head of the Vatican bishops’ office and expert on Latin America, said the move could be counterproductive.

In a book on the subject published last week, the cardinal wrote that clergy working in the Amazon are “welcomed and integrated into local communities precisely because of their celibacy,” a status which gives a priest “preaching weight or a fire… of a life entirely given to his Lord in the ministry.

Rev. Martín Lasarte, a Uruguayan priest who is one of 21 non-bishops among the 184 voting members of the synod, said that the ordination of married men is an “illusory, almost magical proposition that does not touch the real one. fundamental problem “of the church in the Amazon.

Father Lasarte said the Amazon region has the potential to produce abundant vocations to celibacy, but suffers from decades of inadequate evangelism. Catholic missionaries there gave charity and fought for social justice, but often neglected to teach the Catholic faith out of exaggerated fear of disrespecting local cultures, he said.

Any decision to ordain married priests would ultimately rest with the Pope, who would likely extend this authorization only to bishops in the Amazon region, at least initially.

But such a move would quickly fuel demand for the practice in other areas facing similar challenges, said Adam DeVille, professor of theology at the University of St. Francis Indiana and editor of an upcoming study. on married Catholic priests.

“People will quickly understand that and say, ‘Well, if it can happen in the Amazon, then why can’t it happen in, say, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, or Greenland? ”, Said Mr. DeVille.

Germany’s Catholic bishops are already planning to debate priestly celibacy, along with other sensitive issues such as homosexuality and the ordination of women, at a national synod starting in December.

Father Lasarte said priestly celibacy was not an appropriate topic to discuss in a meeting dedicated to a single region, such as the Amazon, as the unity of the church requires international consensus on the issue.

“Any decision that touches fundamental elements of Christian life and pastoral care has repercussions throughout the global village,” said Father Lasarte, highlighting regional rifts in the Anglican Communion over disagreements over the teaching of morality. sexual. “Sometimes it is necessary for everyone to walk at the same speed.”

Write to Francis X. Rocca at [email protected]

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