It is the first time a grouping of bishops convened by a
pope has endorsed such a historic change to the tradition of a celibate
priesthood. The proposal is limited to remote areas of South America where
there is a scarcity of priests but could set a precedent for easing the
restriction on married priests throughout the world.
If Francis, who has already signaled an openness on the
issue, accepts the bishops’ recommendation, he will turn the remote areas of
the Amazon region into a laboratory for a Catholic Church looking to the global
south for its future, with married priests and indigenous rites mixing with
traditional liturgy.
The pope is expected to respond to the proposals by the end
of this year.
The final document of the summit, noting that many of the
faithful in the Amazon region have “enormous difficulties” in receiving
communion and seeing a priest, proposed to “ordain priests suitable and
esteemed men of the community,” who had already had “fruitful” experiences as
deacons and who “receive an adequate formation for the priesthood, having a
legitimately constituted and stable family.”
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