A Proposal has been approved by Catholic Bishops which allows married men to be ordained as priests in the Amazon region.
Although the proposal has not been approved by Pope Francis, the approval of this proposal would be marking a milestone in Catholic church’s century long tradition which did not allow ordained priests to be married.
The proposal passed by a vote of 128 – 41, but the proposal only applied to churches in the Amazon region that are experiencing low numbers of Priests. The region includes parts of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
The proposal, which was titled “viri probati,” which refers to older Catholic men, who have stable families, are respected in their communities and who are already ordained as deacons in the church.
According to the proposal, Allowing married men to become priests is not the same thing as allowing priests to marry, so the change would not affect the rule of celibacy for Catholic priests, who are not allowed to marry.
Pope Francis has the final say, whether or not the proposal would be approved, but the Pope promises to respond to it by the end of the year.
The pope has previously stated he was open to studying the possibility of allowing married men to be ordained.
Although the Catholic Church currently only ordains unmarried men to the priesthood, some converts, from Anglicanism for example, can become Catholic priests even if they are already married.
The Proposal was discussed and voted on Saturday evening at the conclusion of a three-week long meeting at the Vatican to discuss environmental and religious issues affecting the Amazon region.
There was another proposal which talked about ordaining women as deacons.
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The Vatican invited 184 bishops and priest from the Amazon region and around the world for the special meeting known as a synod. Thirty-five women, mostly religious sisters and nuns, were invited but did not have voting rights.