Vatican formally opens debate on married priests for Amazon

Vatican formally opens debate on married priests for Amazon

The Vatican has formally opened debate on letting married men be ordained as priests in remote parts of the Amazon where priests are so few that Catholics can go weeks or months without attending a Mass

AgenciesUpdated: Monday, June 17, 2019, 11:33 PM IST
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Pope Francis greets cardinals at the end of his weekly general audience at St Peter's square on October 14, 2015 at the Vatican. Pope Francis apologised on behalf of the Catholic Church for a series of scandals which have recently shaken the city of Rome and the Vatican. The Vatican has been the focus of several controversies including the coming out of a gay priest and the leak of a controversial letter, while the pontiff himself ended up in the headlines for a gaffe which helped oust Rome's mayor. AFP PHOTO / VINCENZO PINTO |

Vatican City: The Vatican has formally opened debate on letting married men be ordained as priests in remote parts of the Amazon where priests are so few that Catholics can go weeks or months without attending a Mass. The proposal was in a working document released Monday for an October meeting of South American bishops on the Amazon.

The document, prepared by the Vatican based on input from the region, affirmed that celibacy is a gift for the church. But it suggested officials study "the possibility of priestly ordination for older men, preferably indigenous and respected and accepted by their communities, even if they have stable families, for the region's most remote areas." Pope Francis, history's first Latin American pope, has focused attention on the sacramental and environmental plight of Amazonian communities.

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