Another wide-ranging and frank press conference with Pope Francis on his flight home from World Youth Day in Panama raised a number of questions for reporters—and resulted in some wildly divergent headlines. Among the confused questions: Is Pope Francis open to married priests? Is he committed to maintaining celibacy for priests? Will men who are Read more
Austrian bishop Manfred Scheuer has written to Pope Francis explaining people are calling for married priests and female deacons in the future ordained ministry. Scheuer told Francis with regards to the Eucharist as the font, center, and summit of the life of the church, three changes are called for. Read more:
As the Vatican copes with the growing clergy sex abuse scandal and declining number of priests worldwide, it is laying the groundwork to open formal debate on an issue that has long been taboo: opening up the priesthood to married men in parts of the world where clergy are scarce. Pope Francis has convened a Read more
Some married men would become priests if they were invited to, a Belgian bishop told the Synod of Bishops on behalf of Belgium’s bishops’ conference. Bishop Jean Kockerols said the vocations of Christian marriage and “celibacy for the kingdom” of God “deserve to be equally promoted by the church.” Kockerols said Christians are expected to Read more
Please, let us get real about this history of abuse in the Church. Isn’t it time we paid attention to what the Holy Spirit is telling us? Celibacy might be a fine ideal but it doesn’t always fit well with reality. Diocesan Catholic priests need to have the option of marriage. About twelve years ago, Read more
Married priests were one of the options discussed at a conference dedicated to the future of the Catholic Church in Quebec. Consolidating parishes was not a solution to the lack of priests, theologian and Auxiliary Bishop Marc Pelchat told the 80 people at the conference. The conference was organised by a lay group Le Parvis Read more
Pope Francis is said to be considering including debate about married men’s ordination to the priesthood in next year’s Synod of Bishops. The context of the discussion will focus on the Church in the Amazon basin. His comments came in response to a question on the matter from Cardinal Claudio Hummes. Hummes is the president Read more
I’m stepping out of line here, but I believe someone has to put words to what the Holy Spirit has been telling us for years: married priesthood needs to be reinstated. The arguments against marriage for priests do not sit well with history or the majority of priests who claim they don’t cope with celibacy. Read more
In 1970, there was one priest for every 800 Catholics in the United States. Today, that number has more than doubled, with one priest for every 1,800 Catholics. Globally, the situation is worse. The number of Catholics per priest increased from 1,895 in 1980 to 3,126 in 2012, according to a report from CARA at Read more
While Pope Francis’ recent comments on the subject of married priests made headlines around the world, his response falls clearly in line with the thinking of his predecessors. In an interview with German newspaper Die Zeit, published in early March, Pope Francis was asked if allowing candidates for the priesthood to fall in love and Read more