A Bishop who met with Pope Francis in a rare private audience on 4 April has said in an interview that the two men discussed the issue of the ordination of “proven” married men – viri probati – in a serious and positive way.
In the Spring of last year, Bishop Erwin Kräutler, Bishop of Xingu in the Brazilian rainforest, met with Pope Francis in private audience. Following that meeting, the Bishop stated that he and the Holy Father had discussed the desperate shortage of priests in the Bishop’s huge diocese.
“I told him that as bishop of Brazil’s largest diocese with 800 church communities and 700,000 faithful I only had 27 priests, which means that our communities can only celebrate the Eucharist twice or three times a year at the most,” Bishop Kräutler said.
“The Pope explained that he could not take everything in hand personally from Rome. We local
Bishops, who are best acquainted with the needs of our faithful, should be corajudos, that is ‘courageous’ in Spanish, and make concrete suggestions,” he explained. A bishop should not act alone, the Pope told Kräutler. He indicated that “regional and national Bishops’ Conferences should seek and find consensus on reform and we should then bring up our suggestions for reform in Rome,” Kräutler said.
Asked whether he had raised the question of ordaining married men at the audience, Bishop Kräutler replied: “The ordination of viri probati, that is of proven married men who could be ordained to the Priesthood, came up when we were discussing the plight of our communities.
The Pope himself spoke to the Bishop about a diocese in Mexico in which each community had a deacon but many had no Priest. There were 300 deacons there who naturally could not celebrate the Eucharist. The question was how things could continue in such a situation. “It was up to the bishops to make suggestions, the Pope said again.”
Asked whether it now depended on Bishops’ Conference as to whether Church reforms proceeded or not, the Bishop replied “Yes. After my personal discussion with the Pope I am absolutely convinced of this.”
It seems, however, that the courage Bishops will require to make concrete suggestions about clerical celibacy is sorely lacking.
In 2006, Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes quickly reiterated his support of Church teaching and tradition just hours after telling a Sao Paolo newspaper: “Celibacy is a discipline, not a dogma of the Church … Certainly, the majority of the apostles were married. In this modern age, the Church must observe these things, it has to advance with history.”
I suggest that history, the present history of the Church, is more and more demanding that the Bishops address the question of celibacy and the impact it is having on the the critical shortage of Priests available to provide the Sacraments to the People of God.
Permit me to briefly examine the history and teaching of the Church regarding this universal and mandatory requirement for Priesthood in the Latin Church.
Celibacy is a discipline of Catholic Church practiced universally in the West. Although it is highly valued, celibacy is not, of course, required by the nature of the Priesthood itself. This is clear from the practice of the Early Church Fathers and the traditions of the Eastern Rite Churches.
Much has been said about practical reasons for celibacy, such as giving the parish Priest more time to dedicate to his ministry. But the Latin Church understands it as a powerful sign of the presence of the kingdom of God. It is not essential to the Priesthood, but it is a radical witness to the reign of Christ in the world.
In the West, the Church eventually adopted the practice of celibacy as a universal discipline. The East, however, never did. Even today, Eastern Rite Priests may marry before ordination. This historical situation has opened the doors to the possibility of a married clergy in the West under certain circumstances - most notably for those whose lifelong traditions allow for a married Clergy. This includes certain Protestant traditions.
In his 1967 encyclical, "Of the Celibacy of the Priest," Pope Paul VI called for a study of the circumstances of married ministers of churches or other Christian communities separated from the Catholic Church and of the possibility of admitting those who desire full communion to the Catholic priesthood and to continue to exercise ministry.
Some will find it surprising that Pope Pius XII had already granted special permission for some married Lutheran clergy to be ordained to the Catholic priesthood shortly after the Second World War.
In a 1980 statement, Pope John Paul II allowed an exception for married Episcopal clergy who wanted to become Catholic priests. Since then, Vatican officials also have considered requests from members of other Christian denominations.
Yet, the ordination of a married man remains an exception and one that is granted only in very specific cases involving men who had already been called to ministry in another church or Christian denomination and later came into full communion in the Catholic Church.
Presently, there are approximately 100 active priests in the United States who are married. Without exception they came to Catholicism from other churches. They formerly served the Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, or Methodist churches as ordained ministers. At some point they felt the call to communion with the Catholic Church and entered a process of transition. They and their families entered into full communion with the church, and the former Protestant ministers petitioned Rome for permission to be ordained as Catholic priests. They are now active in priestly ministry throughout the country.
Originally this practice only applied to men who had been Episcopalian / Anglican clergy. It also involved the situation of whole parishes coming into full communion along with their minister. They were even permitted to use adapted liturgical practices that borrowed from their Episcopalian roots. Over the years, petitions from ministers from other Protestant denominations were considered and permission granted.
The Diocesan Bishop is required to present the case to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican. A dossier of at least 13 required documents is submitted, including a petition for a dispensation from the impediment of Marriage that stands in the way of the ordination. The actual dispensation can only be granted by the Pope.
There is no tradition in the Church of allowing someone to marry after ordination. In fact, should one of the married priests become widowed, he is not permitted to marry again. Also, in keeping with long tradition, a married Priest is not eligible to be ordained a Bishop.
As regards Priests who left to marry and now wish to provide Priestly service to the Church, the response of the Holy See has been punitive. These men, while remaining Priests forever, have been forbidden by the Church to provide even limited Sacramental care for God’s People.
And so, the urgent need for Priests grows more critical with each passing day as the average age of Priests increases and more and more pastoral demands are made upon them.
Until the Catholic hierarchy seriously and prayerfully studies this issue and responds in a way in which the People of God will be assured of an adequate number of Priests to provide them with the Sacraments, the Pope and the Bishops continue to do a disservice to the Church hey have been called upon to teach, govern and sanctify.
The present crisis must motivate the hierarchy to make a fundamental decision as to which is more essential to the needs of the Church: the preservation of a canonical discipline or a sufficient number of Priests to provide Sacramental nourishment for the care of souls.
As Francis has suggested, courage is needed to confront this crisis. Courage on the part of the Bishops and courage on the part of the Holy Father.
The time has come and the urgency could not be clearer.
The matter of Priestly celibacy as a universal and mandatory discipline in the Latin Church needs to be re-examined and replaced with the far more ancient tradition observed by the Eastern Church.
Furthermore, Priests who left active ministry and married should stop being punished and finally be allowed to be re-admitted to Priestly service, if only limited to providing Sacramental care without taking on the administrative responsibilities of Pastors of parishes.
Where there is no Priest, there is no Church. Where there is not Church, there are no Sacraments.
The People of God are in need of Priests to provide them with the Grace that flows from the Sacraments entrusted to the Church.
Faithful members of the Church rightfully deserve no less.
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