CBCP: Ordaining married men needs thorough study

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said yesterday ordaining married men to become priests is yet to be thoroughly studied by the church hierarchy.

Pope Francis himself raised the possibility when asked if “viri probati” or married men of proven faith could be ordained to compensate for the lack of priests in remote communities such as the Amazon in Brazil.

There is reportedly one priest for every 10,000 Catholics in Amazon.

“There are matters from within the church that are admittedly nonnegotiable and have long been settled, like doctrines. But there are also those that remain possible and would need extensive study and consultation before being adopted and implemented,” CBCP-Public Affairs Committee executive secretary Fr. Jerome Secillano said.

“The truth is, it’s still merely a possibility and I do believe ecclesiastical authorities would be wise enough to discern what will be good or bad for the universal church,” he added.

Secillano also said “it’s not as if the pope made the remark” without “compelling or valid reasons or in the absence of any basis from tradition.”

Based on reports, this is not the first time that the idea was brought up and that the “viri probati” proposal has been going around for decades.

It was also reported that while the pontiff favors a celibate priesthood, celibacy technically could be up for discussion since it is a discipline of the church and not a dogma.

Reports also said there were married priests in the first centuries of Christianity but the practice of celibacy was consolidated in the west in the fourth century.