ORDINATION OF MARRIED MEN TO SOLVE THE SHORTAGE OF PRIESTS???



ORDINATION OF MARRIED MEN TO SOLVE THE SHORTAGE OF PRIESTS???
In a newly released  interview, Pope Francis discussed the shortage of vocations to the priesthood, saying the first response must be prayer. He also mentioned working with youth, the low birthrate, and the ordination of married men.

“The first [response]  – because I speak as a believer – the Lord told us to pray. Prayer, prayer is missing,” Pope Francis said in the interview.

He called the lack of priests, to the point that some parishes are cared for by female “community leaders” in Switzerland, “a problem that the Church must resolve.”

After prayer, he recommended working “with youth who are seeking orientation. And this is very difficult since it must be done because they ask for this: the youth are the great discarded ones in modern society, because they have no work in many countries.”
“For vocations, there is also another problem,” he said, “the problem of the birthrate. If there are no young men there can be no priests.”

Without priestly vocations “the Church is weakened, because a Church without the Eucharist doesn’t have strength: the Church makes the Eucharist, but the Eucharist also makes the Church. The problem of vocations is a serious problem.”

Turning to the question of relaxing permissions for the ordination of married men and the requirement of priestly celibacy, he said that “optional celibacy is discussed, above all where priests are needed. But optional celibacy is not the solution.”

While saying making celibacy optional for priests is not the solution, Pope Francis also signaled an openness to discussing the possibility. He referred to the idea of “viri probati”, in which married or unmarried laymen recognised as potential leaders are ordained as priests.

“We must think yes, viri probati are a possibility. But then we must also consider what tasks they could perform, for example in isolated communities.”
Catholicherald.co.uk
CNA (Catholic News Agency)

https://www.facebook.com/CatholicYouthPortal/
© Atuimah Valerius
Catholic Youth Portal
(2017)

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