Out of Amazon, call for married priests heard

One of the basic Roman Catholic tenets — that priests must be unmarried, celibate men — could be altered, at least in regard to remote regions of the world where a shortage of clergy is hampering the church in tending to believers.

After a three-week gathering of bishops from the Amazon region, a majority of those attending the synod have endorsed the ordination of married men to help minister to the faithful. In some areas, Catholics do not see priests for months and sometimes years.

Pope Francis has said he will respond to the recommendations by the end of the year, and despite his praise of the discipline of celibacy in the priesthood, he also has emphasized that church leaders need to look for new ways to spread the Gospel.

Without priests, the faithful Catholics who remain — many are being converted to Protestant sects — cannot receive the Eucharist, offer a confession or be married in the church. And those sacraments, after all, are essential to Catholicism.

What is unclear is whether a move to allow married men of good reputation — the document specifically refers to already ordained deacons — to become priests in Amazon regions will spread. There’s loud opposition from conservatives in the church, a group already on the outs with Pope Francis.

Celibacy is an ingrained practice in Catholicism even though the first pope, Peter, was married. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that celibacy became established, but it doesn’t change the reality that early priests were married and had children. Even today, married men are allowed to become priests of the Eastern rite, and married Anglicans who become Catholics can remain priests.

It does not seem a stretch, in other words, for Pope Francis to recognize that people in the Amazon regions need priests and to allow men who are married to serve. We have said before that bringing in married men not only would add to the ranks of the priesthood but also bring in those with a more practical understanding of all aspects of life to shepherd the people.

And the priest shortage is not isolated simply to the Amazon. According to the National Catholic Reporter, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University places the number of priests in the U.S. at about 37,000, a decline from 58,632 in 1965. Some 3,500 parishes in the United States — out of 17,156 parishes — have no resident pastor. Lay people are stepping up to lead parishes, something that could become more common.

Another solution to the shortage would be to increase the role of women in the church, as the bishops of the Amazon endorsed. They called for the Vatican to revive study of whether women could be ordained as deacons; an earlier examination during Francis’ papacy led nowhere.

And so it goes with the Catholic Church — study, retreat, more study, no decision, repeat. Eventually, it appears that the shortage of priests must move the church to expanding roles for married men and women.

Pope Francis has the opportunity to take the church back to its roots while at the same time ensuring that the faithful are served. He should not miss this moment.