Roman rumor: new drive to allow married priests?
September 21, 2016
A meeting between Pope Francis and Cardinal Claudio Hummes has touched off speculation that the Pope might support a move to allow the ordination of married men as priests.
Cardinal Hummes, the former prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, has indicated his support for a discussion of allowing married priests in areas where the shortage of clergy is particularly acute, such as in the Amazon region of his native Brazil.
Sandro Magister, the veteran Vatican-watcher for L'Espresso, reports rumors in Rome that Pope Francis intends to devote the next meeting of the Synod of Bishops to discussion of the clergy: a topic that would allow for debate on the issue of celibacy.
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Posted by: WNS3234 -
Sep. 23, 2016 3:57 PM ET USA
Perhaps here is where dialogue with the Oriental Churches can be most fruitful. The ways bishops and synods of bishops deal with married clergy and the scope of problems they encounter might be sobering. After a thousand years, the practices of the RC church vis-a-vis Sacramental Marriage and canon law won't be as fresh as the Eastern Churches.
