Pope Francis, in a new interview, discussed the possibility of revisiting Western rules regarding priestly celibacy.
He says there is no contradiction in the fact that the bride is getting married.
In an interview published March 10, Pope Francis said that celibacy in the Western Church is a temporary requirement.
He details that whether we like it or not, this is not eternal, like “our” initiations as eternal priests. Whether you go or not is another question, but forever. On the other hand, celibacy is discipline.
The nearly hour-long interview, published on Friday by Miami-based Spanish-language online news channel Infobae, also covered Daniel Ortega’s dictatorship in Nicaragua, drug trafficking in Latin America, the war in Ukraine and annulment of marriages.
Pope Francis offered to read his predecessor Benedict XVI’s statement on the repeal. On this occasion, he said: Many church marriages are invalid due to lack of faith.
Asked by Argentine journalist Daniel Haddad if celibacy could be “revisited,” Pope Francis replied: “Yes, you can. In fact, everyone in the Eastern Church is married. Or those who want to do it. There they make a choice. In Ordination, first “you have to choose between marriage and celibacy,” he said in a transcript provided by Infobae.
Asked by an interviewer if he thinks the Pope’s choice of celibacy will encourage more people to join the priesthood, Pope Francis replied, “I don’t think so,” noting that Eastern Catholic churches are already married to priests.
The pope added that earlier in the day he met an Eastern Catholic priest who works for the Vatican and has a wife and son.
Pope Francis has previously spoken about the value of priestly celibacy. In January 2019, he said: At the time, the Pope added that exceptions could be considered for priests who married in the Latin Rite, stating that “when there is a pastoral need, there is a lack of priests in remote places like the Pacific Islands.”
