Up to ten bishops in England and Wales would support the Church discerning if ordaining married men is a way forward, a retired bishop says.
This is because those bishops are in charge of diocese where there is a significant shortage of priests, said Bishop Crispian Hollis.
The former ordinary of Portsmouth diocese said he is increasingly convinced that, “sooner rather than later” the Church in Britain and further afield “will rightly have to move towards the ordaining of married men”.
In his 23 years as Bishop of Portsmouth, he said, the tide had turned from there being plenty of priests to go round, to a situation where he was forever “scratching around” to find enough priests to run the parishes.
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