Pope Francis Considers Allowing Married Men to Be Priests

This new idea from Pope Francis would allow men who are Catholic and already married could become priests.

In an interview with the German weekly published March 8, Pope Francis said the lack of Catholic priests was an “enormous problem” for the church.

“If there are single and not married I think they have more devotion to the Catholic faith than married men would be”, Pilz said.

While priestly celibacy is the norm in the Roman Catholic Church, numerous Eastern Catholic churches ordain married men, he said.

Clerical celibacy has never been adapted as a doctrine of the church because nothing in the Bible suggests priests should not be married. However, the idea is creating mixed emotions among Catholic parishioners in the Youngstown area.

“There is great value in the practice of celibacy. Because then the priest has to go to different churches to serve”, said Reverend Ilo.

The pope raised the prospect in the context of allowing “viri probati“, Latin for “tested men”, to be ordained in places with a scarcity of priests.

Bishop David A. Zubik of the Diocese of Pittsburgh said making celibacy optional is not a panacea, as the experience of the Eastern Catholic churches shows.

“I gave to the pope the text which we have made with regard to Amoris Laetitia, and he has received it with joy”, said Marx.

But if such a concept was to come into effect, it would reverse the centuries-old principle of Roman Catholic priests being required to remain celibate. Priests from other sects of Christianity, such as Lutheranism or Episcopalianism, where marriage has been allowed for clergy, have been accepted as Catholic priests with the permission of their wives.

In August 2016 a peace accord between the Colombian government and the country’s largest rebel group, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was finally reached following four years of negotiations in Cuba.

DeSantos said he’d also supports women becoming priests.

However, even in these exceptions, marriage isn’t normally allowed after ordination ― an ordained priest isn’t allowed to get married, for example, and widowed priests aren’t able to remarry.

“I think he’ll be arriving at the best possible moment for Colombia”, he said in a statement.