The celibacy debate continues after a popular priest in Italy has announced he is leaving the priesthood to marry the woman he loves. The child they are expecting has been diagnosed with a serious heart condition. Father Tomas Hlavaty (pictured) will now be formally removed from the priesthood and returned to the lay state, says Read more
A Vatican cardinal stated that advocating for married priests is not the solution to addressing declining vocations in Ireland. Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy, suggested fostering a true witness to the Faith could reverse the trend. Cardinal You was visiting Knock for the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors. Read more
Without the Eucharist, it seems obvious: There is no Catholic Church. It feeds us as a community of believers and transforms us into the body of Christ active in the world today. But according to Catholic theology, we cannot have the Eucharist without priests. Sadly, in many parts of the world there is a Eucharistic Read more
According to the media, the most important issues facing the Synod on Synodality are the possibility of married priests, women deacons and the blessing of gay couples. The first session of the synod will take place in Rome this October, with a second session in October 2024. I personally hope the synod deals with these Read more
This is not an easy article to write, but it has been with me for a long time. It comes to the surface when I’m told that priests feel threatened by the ordination of women. Of course, they feel threatened. Would a starving man feel threatened working with a chef? I believe that the option Read more
A group of some 5,000 Italian ex-priests who’ve gone on to become married is mobilising in advance of October’s first Synod of Bishops on Synodality to advocate for making celibacy optional in the Catholic Church. The group notes that calls to rethink the celibacy requirement have circulated in various Catholic arenas of late, from the Read more
Pope Francis discussed the possibility of revising the Western discipline of priestly celibacy in a wide-ranging interview for his 10th anniversary as pope last week. Francis spoke with Argentine journalist Daniel Hadad. “There is no contradiction for a priest to marry. “Celibacy in the Western Church is a temporary prescription: I do not know if Read more
The current synod, whose title may seem abstruse — a “Synod on Synodality” —, is perhaps best expressed by the three words that follow its title: “Communion, Participation and Mission”. I want to emphasize the call to mission. This is indeed what the Lord asks for in the final lines of the Gospels, including that Read more
It seems that every few months we begin talking again about the chronic shortage of presbyters in the many parts of the Catholic world today. Then someone suggests the ordination of suitable married men, Viri Probati. But after some discussion, a solidly based argument (not based on dubious notions of ritual purity) is presented: how Read more
Pope Francis’ post-synodal apostolic exhortation is only the beginning of the story. As church conservatives and progressives take to the internet and supposed neutral writers enter their own spins, everyone is forgetting about the forest and the trees. It is about the Amazon Basin, not about married priests or women deacons. Except it is. There Read more