The Amazon River Basin in South America. Image courtesy of Creative Commons
Posted on 10/17/2019 10:45:29 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — The synod of bishops meeting in Rome appears to be moving toward recommending the ordination of married men in the Amazon region.
While no one can predict what the bishops will do, one Brazilian bishop recently estimated that two-thirds of the bishops at the synod will support ordaining “viri probati” — a church phrase meaning “married men of proven virtue.”
Another participant told Religion News Service that only a couple of the 185 bishops spoke against the idea during the first week of the synod.
The three-week synod, which began Oct. 6, is composed mostly of bishops from the Amazon region but includes laity and religious, both men and women, as nonvoting participants. Among the lay participants are indigenous people from the area.
The first week of the synod involved three days of four-minute speeches by the participants, followed by two days of small group discussions. The second week has two days of speeches, followed by another two days of small group discussions. Rumor has it that the synod will get Friday off while a committee attempts to draft recommendations that reflect the consensus of the synod. Next week, the final week, will be decision time, when the bishops will vote on the recommendations they want to make to the pope.
The Amazon River Basin in South America. Image courtesy of Creative Commons
Some bishops have complained about the Western media’s singular focus on the question of married priests, pointing to the other critical issues that have been discussed, such as the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and its impact on biodiversity, environmental pollution and climate change, all of which has benefited the rich, said the bishops.
The wholesale violation of the human rights of indigenous peoples has also been decried. Thousands have been slaughtered and more have been displaced from territories that have been occupied by their ancestors for centuries.
But the ordination of married men has been a recurring topic at the synod.
Those participating in the meetings do not approach the issue from an ideological perspective. There has been no talk of the “right” of priests to marry or that celibacy is a bad idea. No one is advocating letting already ordained men marry; rather they propose allowing the ordination of men who are already married.
The approach of those in favor has been pragmatic. If the Eucharist and the sacraments are essential to a Catholic community, they say, then the communities need priests. If there are not enough celibate priests, then the church needs to ordain married men.
One Amazonian bishop explained that he had so few priests that it would be like Italy having only 25 priests to serve all its Catholics. Other bishops talked of villages that celebrate the Eucharist at most only two or three times a year. Those supporting the ordination of married men say the priest should not just be a visitor, but a permanent presence in the community.
But it is not just isolated villages that lack priests. Bishop Carlo Verzeletti, who oversees the Diocese of Castanhal, near Belém, in northern Brazil, noted that he has a city with 150 Pentecostal churches, while Catholics have only 50 churches due to the shortage of clergy. Often people attend a Pentecostal church because it is the only place to worship in their village or their neighborhood.
But allowing married priests is only part of the solution. Many bishops spoke of the importance of good training and formation for lay and clerical leaders.
Participants in the Amazon synod arrive in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Oct. 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
One approach would be to find local lay leaders, train them and then ordain them for their communities. Another would be to recruit and train a cadre of married men who would be missioned to communities that need priests. Both approaches would probably be needed.
Good training is essential for all priests, but especially those sent into communities currently led by women, where there is a danger the new priest will push the women leaders aside. Such clericalism is as much a temptation for married priests as it is for celibate priests.
Sister Gloria Liliana Franco Echeverri, president of the Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of Religious, spoke of the importance of priestly formation that trained men to work in teams with others.
Training brings its own set of questions. Bishops from poor dioceses wonder how they would pay for it and suggested pooling educational and financial resources. They also expressed concerns about how married ordained men’s families would be supported financially.
Although most of the bishops, including the pope, seem to consider the ordination of married men an exception for the Amazon region, many outside the synod believe it will be hard to contain once it is established there.
Pope Francis speaks during the opening session of the Amazon synod at the Vatican on Oct. 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
There are, however, examples of married priests in the Catholic Church. The Eastern rite churches have allowed married priests for centuries. In the United States, married Lutheran and Episcopal priests who have taken Catholic orders have been allowed to continue their ministries. These practices have not led to further expansion of married clergy.
On the other hand, the Amazon is hardly the only place in the world where the Catholic Church needs more priests. If the pope allows married priests in the Amazon, how will he say no to the bishops of another region or nation who request it?
And if married priesthood becomes an option, how many young men will choose it over celibacy? Many seminarians see celibacy not as an intrinsic value but simply part of the price of becoming a priest. Given the choice, they will choose marriage.
If the synod recommends the ordination of married men that will not be the end of the debate. The pope will probably consult with other bishops around the world before he makes a decision. And even if he says yes, selecting, training and supporting these men will be a challenge for the Amazon church.
This is new territory for the Catholic Church, and it would be wise for it to look to Protestant and Orthodox churches that have been dealing with these issues for a long time.
Two words: Done deal.
Best advice,do what is done in the Eastern Rites.
The question is, will more heterosexual men consider it?
It's my view that the status quo practically DEMANDS a largely homosexual Latin Rite priesthood.
There are heterosexual men who are granted the gift of celibacy to devote 100% to others instead of a family. But there are certainly not enough of them to staff all the parishes in the world with even a single priest, never mind the numbers necessary to promote and sustain a healthy religious culture.
So, the device of accepting, tolerating, and now almost promoting a homosexual priesthood has been an alternative. Most would agree, I think, that this has been a failure.
Remember it started with the permanent deacons.
Like the two previous synods, the results were in before they met.
Marxist type manipulaton at it’s best.
The thing is this — HISTORICALLY, Priests were NOT REQUIRED to be unmarried.
For example, the Apostle Peter, who the Catholic Church considers their first Pope, was a married man. St. Patrick was the grandson of a Priest.
It was not until ecumenical meetings of the Catholic Church at the First and Second Lateran councils in 1123 and 1139 that priests were explicitly forbidden from marrying.
Eliminating the prospect of marriage had the added benefit of ensuring that children or wives of priests did not make claims on property acquired throughout a priest’s life, which thus could be retained by the church. It took centuries for the practice of celibacy to become widespread, but it eventually became the norm in the Western Catholic church.
today, if you speak to a priest and ask him why celibacy is required, he will tell you that the Catholic church regards it as being easier for unattached men to commit to the church, as they have more time for devotion and fewer distractions.
However, it is NOT DOGMA or DOCTRINE.
So, I think, Celibacy is considered a “discipline” of the church, which can be changed, rather than a “dogma”, or a divinely revealed truth from God which cannot be altered.
The gay-cclesiastic mafia is not amused.
Flash: Pope Frances (intended “e”) announced the purchase of Brigham Young University from the Mormon Church. He will rebrand the institution as Bring-em Young University.
Dear Western Catholics:
If you want married priests as a common practice in your country, OPEN YOUR WALLETS.
God's plan for the leadership in the church is MARRIED men.
1 Timothy 3:1-13 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
Titus 1:5-16 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
The idea that Paul would praise celibacy on the one hand, and then set up requirements for elder and overseer that exclude anyone who followed his advice, and would even exclude Jesus himself, is just ridiculous.
Those councils reiterated what was the long-standing expectation, if not the universal practice.
Eliminating the prospect of marriage had the added benefit of ensuring that children or wives of priests did not make claims on property acquired throughout a priest’s life, which thus could be retained by the church.
As far as I have been able to determine, diocesan priests have always been able to will their own property to anyone they pleased.
And God said in the very beginning......*It is not good for man to be alone*.
Paul does not elevate celibacy over marriage.
Nor does he require it for church leadership as Roman Catholicism does.
And I don’t want to hear that nonsense about it not being a requirement to be a priest.
If it weren’t a requirement, then there’d be a whole lot more married priests than there are. And there wouldn’t be men leaving the priesthood to become married.
There is no legitimate reason for tying serving in the Catholic church with celibacy or rather, being unmarried, because in light of the goings on within the Catholic hierarchy, clearly celibacy is not the issue. It’s being married that is the problem with Catholicism.
Ping.
5.56mm
It is time for the Church to go back to its scriptures roots.
Always a safe place to be.
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