Pope open to study of married priests

BERLIN — The Catholic Church must study whether it is possible to ordain married men to minister in remote communities that face priest shortages, Pope Francis said.

In an interview with Germany’s Die Zeit this week, Francis stressed that removing the celibacy rule is not the answer to the church’s priest shortage. But he expressed an openness to studying whether so-called “viri probati” — or married men of proven faith — could be ordained.

“We must consider if viri probati is a possibility. Then we must determine what tasks they can perform, for example, in remote communities,” the pope was quoted as saying.

The viri probati proposal has been around for decades, but it has drawn fresh attention under the first Latin American pope thanks, in part, to his appreciation of the challenges facing the church in countries such as Brazil, which is hugely Catholic and has an acute shortage of priests.

Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, a friend of Francis and former head of the Vatican’s office for clergy, is reportedly pressing to allow viri probati in the Amazon, where the church counts around one priest for every 10,000 Catholics.

Francis has shown particular openness to receiving proposals for ordaining married men as well as his own pastoral concern for men who have left ministry to marry.

He has maintained friendship with the Argentine widow of a friend who left the priesthood to marry, and he spent one of his Friday mercy missions last year visiting men who had left ministry to start families. He has said that, while he favours a celibate priesthood, celibacy technically can be up for discussion, since it’s a discipline of the church, not a dogma.

The church allows some exceptions to the rule. Priests in the eastern rite Catholic Church are allowed to be married, as are married Anglican priests who convert to Catholicism.

During the interview, Francis confirmed that Colombia was on his travel plans for 2017, as well as India and Bangladesh.