Ordination of married men: why Pope Francis responded with silence

2/12/2020, 7:16:13 PM

DECRYPTION - The Holy Father had said that he would not be the pope for the abolition of priestly celibacy. Does the text of his apostolic exhortation definitively close the file? Analysis by our expert Jean-Marie Guénois.

There is a complex science in the Church called exegesis. It consists in deciphering the biblical texts to extract their true meaning. The apparent result of the synod on the Amazon, published on February 12 in the post-synodal apostolic exhortation of Francis, Dear Amazonia calls for a form of exegesis.

Read also: The Pope does not speak out for the ordination of married men

Factually, the text of the pope does not take anything from the famous "proposal" 111, voted more than two thirds of the synod of bishops, October 26, 2019. This motion envisaged that men " married", " permanent deacons ", could be ordained priests to solve the lack of pastors in the Amazon. A local measure which could become “universal”, applicable to the whole Catholic Church.

Another fact, the pope explains in his document the two main reasons that make the lack of priests in the Amazon relative: there are more priests of Amazonian origin in the United States and in Europe than in ... Amazonia; Latin American bishops send too few priests