{"id":11007,"date":"2017-03-10T18:31:43","date_gmt":"2017-03-10T18:31:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/pope-hints-at-possible-ordination-of-married-men\/"},"modified":"2017-03-10T18:31:43","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T18:31:43","slug":"pope-hints-at-possible-ordination-of-married-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/pope-hints-at-possible-ordination-of-married-men\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope hints at possible ordination of married men"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"ThisImage copyright Getty Images
Image caption Pope Francis said the idea of relaxing celibacy rules was "not a solution" <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pope Francis has said he may consider ordaining married men - under very specific circumstances - to address the shortage of Catholic priests.<\/p>\n

He was speaking about the possibility of viri probati (men of proven faith) carrying out some duties.<\/p>\n

"We have to give a thought to whether viri probati are a possibility," he told German newspaper Der Zeit, his words translated by Reuters.<\/p>\n

Such men, he said, could possibly work in isolated areas.<\/p>\n

The Latin phrase viri probati is used to refer to married men of strong faith, who are often older with grown children. <\/p>\n

Despite his remarks on the limited possibility of allowing married men to enter the Church, the Pope ruled out dropping celibacy as a requirement for the priesthood.<\/p>\n

He said that voluntary celibacy - giving young priests an option - was "not a solution" to the question.<\/p>\n

One of the most serious problems facing the Catholic Church is the growing shortage of priests. A quarter of Catholic parishes worldwide now have no resident priest. <\/p>\n

Differential growth patterns mean that parishes set up in Europe hundreds of years ago are no longer aligned with the developing world's expanding Catholic population. <\/p>\n

Although the total number of priests worldwide remains more or less steady at just over 400,000 new vocations are insufficient to replace an ever more ageing priesthood. <\/p>\n

Pope Francis announces Colombia visit<\/p>\n

Campaigners for reform of ordination have, in the past, suggested that married men could supplement the clergy in carrying out priestly duties.<\/p>\n

Roman Catholic priests are required to abide by the rule of celibacy upon ordination with very rare exceptions - such as married Anglican ministers who convert.<\/p>\n

It is seen as a symbol of the devotion of one's life to God, though the rule does not apply to Eastern Rite Churches.<\/p>\n

The Vatican also confirmed the Pope would visit Colombia in September.<\/p>\n

Peace talks between Farc leftist rebels and the Colombian government, in which the Vatican played a role, were successfully completed last year.<\/p>\n

The Pope will spend several days in Colombia, without visiting any other neighbouring countries - something a Vatican envoy said "shows the importance Francis attributes to this trip, and ultimately Colombia".<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Image copyright Getty ImagesImage caption Pope Francis said the idea of relaxing celibacy rules was "not a solution" Pope Francis has said he may consider ordaining married men - under<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}