Pope Francis has shown himself willing to “review” celibacy within the Catholic Church, considering it to be a “temporary prescription” and a “discipline” that could be reviewed. “There is no contradiction for a priest to get married. Celibacy in the Western Church is a temporary prescription: I don’t know if it is resolved one way or another, but it is provisional in this sense,” Francis said from his residence in Santa Marta, in Vatican City, in an interview with Argentine portal Infobae on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his pontificate, which is celebrated next Monday.
“In the Catholic Church there are married priests: the entire Eastern rite is married. All. Here in the Curia we have one – today I came across it – that has his wife, his son, ”the Pontiff abounded in the statements.
It is not the first time that Francis has expressed himself in this direction. In 2017, he already assured that celibacy is not “a dogma of faith” in the Catholic Church, recalling that there are married priests in the Eastern rites and that “the door is always open” to discuss the issue. However, the Jesuit pope clarified that “at this time there are other issues on the table.” “Celibacy is not a dogma of faith, it is a rule of life, which I appreciate very much and I believe it is a gift for the Church,” Francis considered at the time.
Two weeks ago, he also pointed out in a dialogue with his biographers Sergio Rubín and Francesca Ambrogetti that, although he respects the Western Church’s tradition of compulsory celibacy, he believes that “in any case”, a possible change should be made, if he considers it so. , his successor. In any case, Francis does not believe that optional celibacy is the ideal solution to the vocations crisis in the Church. In the book, the Pontiff indicates that the problem is “cultural”, and that “Lutheran priests can be married, but even so they cannot increase the number of ministers”.
In the interview with the Argentine portal, the Pope also acknowledges that “sometimes celibacy can lead to machismo”, and indicates that “a priest who does not know how to work with women is missing something, he is not mature”. “The Vatican was all very macho, but it is part of the culture, it is not anyone’s fault. It was always done that way. Now they are working more”, admits Bergoglio, taking note of some recent appointments of women in positions of responsibility in the Holy See. “They have another methodology, women. They have a sense of time, of waiting, of patience, different from man –he opined–. This does not diminish the man, they are different. And they have to complement each other.”
