"The Whole World is the Amazon: A Commentary on the Global Celibate Priest Shortage:" "And, even in light of the dangerous global decline of celibate priests since 1970 and even seminarians, all this was *before* the Catholic Church pretty much doubled 50 years later in 2020. So even IF the number of priests returned to 1970s levels, that 1970s number of priests is actually kind of obsolete for the needs in 2020, since the celibate priests rate in 2020 should have doubled the 1970s rate as well just to keep up with the growing Catholic population in 2020. But the global celibate priesthood very pitifully has not doubled in 2020, compared to 1970s levels. The global celibate priesthood is not even keeping up with the needs of the Catholic Church but has only been declining. This borders on sheer spiritual negligence of the Flock. The whole world is the Amazon."

The celibate priest shortage is everywhere.  The priest shortage situation in the Church is no longer confined to one or two regions of the Church or just a few pockets here or there.  

Reports of priest shortages are constantly reported by bishops and dioceses documenting dire priest shortages across North America (USA, Mexico, Canada), South America, Central America, Europe, Asia, the Far East, China, the Philippines, Australia, Oceania, and yes even Africa.  The data is open source, if one takes the time to do online searches.

What's worse than that is the pipeline.  Even seminarian enrollment has a continual 13-year decline!  And even worse than the global seminarian decline, on average, the reality is that in many if not most places only about 1 in 3 seminarians are actually ordained priests.

The celibate priest shortage is everywhere!!!

What are people thinking maintaining the status quo?!  Are they living in some kind of bubble?!  

Do they not feel it?  Do they not see it?  Do they not experience it, living in some sheltered environment where priests are aplenty or something in their little corner of the universal Church?  Did COVID not teach us what it's like to be separated from priests and the Sacraments?

The 1970s saw the highest number of Catholic priests in history, but it's been an overall decline ever since 1970.  We seem to be at a point of no return with this terrible decline.  

And, even in light of the dangerous global decline of celibate priests since 1970 and even seminarians, all this was *before* the Catholic Church pretty much doubled 50 years later in 2020.  So even IF the number of priests returned to 1970s levels, that 1970s number of priests is actually kind of obsolete for the needs in 2020, since the celibate priests rate in 2020 should have doubled the 1970s rate as well just to keep up with the growing Catholic population in 2020.  

But the global celibate priesthood very pitifully has not doubled in 2020, compared to 1970s levels.  The global celibate priesthood is not even keeping up with the needs of the Catholic Church but has only been declining.  This borders on sheer spiritual negligence of the Flock.

The whole world is the Amazon.

This source was from several years ago in 2019, and the situation has worsened since then.  Archbishop Cob (2019) from the Amazon region acknowledged that the priest shortage isn't just the Amazon.  The need for Viri Probati applies to other parts of the world.

His Excellency Archbishop Rafael Cob of the Diocese of Puyo in Ecuador

"Asked if he believes the viri probati could be applied to other regions of the world, [Archbishop] Cob said the door is open, but 'they will have to be able to explain why they need it, to analyze the root causes of the problem and, as Pope Francis urged, to propose bold solutions.'"

Archbishop Rafael Cob of the Diocese of Puyo in Ecuador (Credit: Crux/Ines San Martin.)

Source: 

https://cruxnow.com/amazon-synod/2019/09/amazon-archbishop-backs-ordination-of-married-priests/

"With real parents in the priesthood, it would make us more aware of the vulnerability of children and more outraged at their abuse. ... With husbands in the priesthood, it would make us more respectful of women and their opinions. Married priests would also break up the 'old boys' clique that surrounds clerical culture in seminaries and chancery offices." - Fr Peter Daly, J.D., retired priest and lawyer

Excerpt:

"With real parents in the priesthood, it would make us more aware of the vulnerability of children and more outraged at their abuse. ...

With husbands in the priesthood, it would make us more respectful of women and their opinions. Married priests would also break up the 'old boys' clique that surrounds clerical culture in seminaries and chancery offices."

- Fr. Peter Daly, J.D., retired priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., USA, and a lawyer.

Source: https://www.ncronline.org/news/priestly-diary/priesthood-being-crucified-cross-celibacy

Advocating for Spiritual Widows/Orphans Being Spiritually Neglected of Spiritual Fathers (Whether Married or Celibate) with the Severe Priest Shortage in Peru (2025): Priest Shortage Ranked Top #1 "Significant Challenge," a Year Before Leo XIV's Homecoming to Peru: 1 Priest Per 10,000 (with 1 Priest per 15,000 in Andes) (versus 1 Priest per 2,000 in USA/Europe)

According to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the priest shortage ranks as the #1 "significant challenge."

This is the land that Leo XIV served as a missionary priest as Bishop Robert Prevost.  He returns to 3 countries in South America from Nov. 6-17, 2026, since the election to the Chair of Peter in 2025: Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.

When asked about significant challenges in Peru, lack of priests was an ongoing Problem #1.  But notice how the situation worsens in other parts of Peru, with 1 priest per 10,000 (in Peru) and 1 per 15,000 (in the Andes).

If you live in the more comfortable West, like the USA or Europe, in a sense, Catholics seemed to be more privileged, even spoiled, to have 1 priest per 2,000 Catholics (or even higher).

This quote shows the disproportionate contrast:

"What are the main needs of the Church in Peru?

[Luis Vildoso, ACN]: The Church in Peru faces significant challenges. I would highlight three aspects:

The first is the shortage of priests. In Peru, there are approximately 3,000 priests for a population of over 30 million. This means that, on average, one priest has to minister to and accompany 10,000 people. There are areas, especially in the Andes and the Amazon, where this ratio exceeds 15,000 faithful per priest. Compared to Europe, where the ratio is 1,500 per priest, this is enormous."

Without doubt, Leo (like Francis) already knows about this neglectful situation in Peru which is also somewhat similar or even worse in neighboring Amazon.  But does the average Catholic understand the severity of the situation, especially if priests are more available for them other than places like Peru where Leo XIV is visiting at the time of this writing?  

So, even knowing what we know about the  priest shortage, will we (the Church) just continue the same-old-same-old approach while the Faithful are consistently neglected, while they are starved of the Eucharist and the Sacraments, and while one can even make the case that not providing priests actually borders on pastoral and spiritual negligence of duty before God?

There simply are not enough celibate priests to take care of the universal needs of the Church!

In a way, it's quite embarassing that Catholics in USA/Europe enjoy a comparatively low priest ratio of 1 priest per 1,500 or 1,700 or so.  And even that's pushing it with the priest shortages reported around major (Arch)Dioceses in the USA. They don't know how good they've got it by comparision, so the threat is not as dire to them or immediately felt.  They don't feel the priest shortage more often than not, and they are more often than not the same vocal keyboard warriors defending the status quo putting down married priests, since "tradition" seems to be defined more about what comes out of Trent these days.  Perhaps they are thinking more regionally than universally, more Latin Rite than universal, thinking more parochial than the larger picture.  So like a frog in boiling water, they don't take measures to act, if they don't experience the shortage.

That is...

...until...

...they wake up one morning without priests, with parish closures, pastorless parishes, reduced Mass times, longer Confession lines that turn away penitents, or priests that don't come for Last Rites, just to name a few.

Both Leo and Francis lived the priest shortage, so let's see if there will be any concrete steps this time at the Holy See level, or rather let's see if the pressures to not have married priests by fat cats who have mandated celibate priests readily available for them for weekend Mass and Confession don't win the day again.  Like a pressure cooker, the status quo is just unsustainable.

To close, let this message be yet another effort to advocate for the spiritual widows and spiritual orphans that they do not have a spiritual Father (whether married or celibate) in the daily distribution of God's Sacraments and Mysteries. Like the ancient deacons who ministered to the neglected, when the widows complained that they were being neglected, let it be our duty, too, to minister to the spiritual needy and spiritually poor of our time with the restoration of married Catholic priests among baptized cradle Catholics in the Latin Rite.

Source: 

https://acninternational.org/es/un-puente-de-amor-para-y-desde-peru-la-mision-de-acn-junto-al-papa-leon-xiv/

Patriarch Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako (2024) of Baghdad of the Chaldean Church, Iraq, distinguished scholar of Church history (conferred ecclesial communion by B16): "After the ordination, some of those present asked me: Why don't we Latins have this opportunity? We Eastern Catholics are Catholic just like the Latin Roman Catholics. In the Church, we are not two categories of Catholics, but one category: Catholic and Apostolic." ... "All churches have a great need for priests; why, then, not give local bishops the opportunity to distinguish case by case and decide what they believe is right for their diocese?"

This article below is so rich with quotes on married priests.  Thank you to "SettimanaNews" (2024).

One main quote is the focus on granting the local bishop authority to make the decisions.on a case by case basis for ordaining married men as Catholic priests.

The other comment is about emphasizing being "Catholic and Apostolic" more that to what Rite one belongs.  What matters is that the Catholic Church's ordination to the priesthood comes to us from the Apostles in an unbroken line of succession.  There are not two types of Catholic but one.

This focus on oneness makes the Catholic Faith less tribal and more universal.

There are more comments below worth reflecting on for restoring married priests in the Latin Rite for baptized cradle Catholics.

Credit: SettimanaNews (2024)

Cardinal Sako: "Married priests, why not?"

BIO

Louis Raphaël Sako

February 24, 2024 - 07:52

(SettimanaNews) – Louis Raphaël Sako (1948), author of the following article, was ordained a Chaldean priest in 1974, elected Bishop of Kerkuk of the Chaldeans on September 27, 2003, and consecrated on November 14 of the same year. He was elected Patriarch of the Chaldean Church on January 31, 2013. Benedict XVI conferred ecclesiastical communion upon him on February 1, 2013. He was created a cardinal by Pope Francis, receiving the cardinal's hat in the consistory of June 28, 2018. Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans, he resides in the city of Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, having temporarily left the see of the Iraqi capital due to disagreements with the President of the Republic. A free voice within the Catholic hierarchy, a distinguished scholar of the history of the various Churches, he travels the world to report on the tragic situation of Christians in the Middle East (Francesco Strazzari)."

...

"After the ordination, some of those present asked me: Why don't we Latins have this opportunity? We Eastern Catholics are Catholic just like the Latin Roman Catholics. In the Church, we are not two categories of Catholics, but one category: Catholic and Apostolic."

...

"There are two different traditions, but tradition is not eternal . The world today is different from the past; it has changed, and society has changed as well. Surely there will be no progress without updating."

...

"Some people are called to the priesthood while remaining celibate, and others by getting married."

"In the Eastern Churches, both models exist: celibate priests and married priests. What's the problem? Marriage is a sacrament."

...

"Ordaining married men to the priesthood does not negate the presence of celibate priests. Celibacy remains a highly valued charism. They are two different options, and one does not contradict the other."

...

"All churches have a great need for priests; why, then, not give local bishops the opportunity to distinguish case by case and decide what they believe is right for their diocese?"

---

Father Diyar Sarkis gives communion to his wife and daughter after being ordained a priest in the Netherlands | SN

Father David Nas, after being ordained, kisses his wife and one of his children | Catholic Church of Mechelen-Brussels

Source: 

https://www.religiondigital.org/teologia_para_una_iglesia_en_salida/Cardenal-Sako-Curas-casados_0_2645435440.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAcGRvZgRzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA80MDk5NjI2MjMwODU2MDkAAR-wrCuckc6fE3Lhs57RAD0gK2Pch-gxMcDoNIOCwsghydrWgu3nJZwb126E4Q_aem_pQxLMfihjToszwY357ct7g

A Reflection in 2026 After the Amazon Synod of 2019 & a Message for the Church of 2030 or 2040 or 2050 in the Future About Married Priests (Photo: Amazon Catholic deacon leads prayers)

Excerpt #1: "Deacon Shainkiam Yampik Wananch leads a liturgy with indigenous Achuar people at a chapel in Wijint, a village in the Peruvian Amazon, Aug. 20. (Photo: CNS/Maria Cervantes, Reuters)"

Several years after the Amazon Synod ended in 2019, the Church continues to discern restoring the priesthood to baptized Catholics in the Latin Rite.

Perhaps, just perhaps, historians will look back at our time in the 2020s and say that the delay was needed as part of the continued discernment process.  More time was needed for (more) married priests, as Cardinal Mario Grech said a couple of years ago after the Amazon Synod ended, "Yes, we need time."

From the viewpoint of a future Church that does eventually authorize Viri Probati, say in the year 2030 or 2040 or whenever, the Church of the future will say something like, "Ah, in Divine Providence, Rome moved slow in her wisdom on married priests.  The desire for married priests happened way before Vatican II and Vatican III.  We are grateful for married priests now, like married deacons.  Oh, how did we ever do without them?"  The mainstream Latin Catholics of the future of 2040 or 2050 will look in wonder at their restored married priests like mainstream Latin Catholics did decades ago in 1970 at restored married deacons.  Some bright graduate students writing on married priests in the future may even cite this simple blog in their masters theses or doctoral dissertations somewhere -- and someday chuckle -- quoting this very paragraph with their next generation of AI or whatever new tech emerges then.

Those mature men reading this reflection in 2026, hoping and praying the Church allows more married priests, may pass to the next life before this happens in 2030 or 2040 or 2050.  This may bring some personal sadness but there is consolation yet. For that, in those cases, we hopefully will be grateful for our efforts that the good of the Church as a whole was advanced somehow and God used our desire, work and efforts to serve or see more married priests return.  

Or maybe not.  The Roman Pontiffs from now until the Second Coming may simply confirm the status quo.  And this post will be a moot point.

In any case, what is clear is that, whether married priests are restored for baptized married Catholic family men or not, the good of the Church and thus the salvation of souls were at stake.  

That is the heart and message for us now post-Amazon and those the future.  For those of any age desiring married priests in the Latin Rite now, we trust in Divine Providence -- now -- not just in 2030 or 2040 or 2050 or whenever.  And images like those below of the Amazon Synod (and decades after decades of such similar photos since the Second Vatican Council to restore married priests) are part of the story.

So to the Church of the future that does eventually have restored married priests in the Latin Rite one day, carry the Gospel forward unto the end of the world, in season and out of season.  Like a runner handing a relay race stick to the next runner, our efforts and labors for the great restoration and return of married priests were made for the salvation of souls, and handed onto you, dear souls.  

We hand it in to you, so that the world may believe in Jesus Christ whom God has sent into the world.

Our Lady, Queen of the Clergy, pray for us.

---

Except #2

"Father Terrence Curry, S.J., a missionary priest who now serves in the Diocese of Brooklyn, noted that the church has had married clergy in the past.

“A married clergy is not foreign to the Catholic Church,” Father Curry said, emphasizing that the issue would affect only diocesan priests who more regularly administer the sacraments, not priests from monastic or religious orders.

Part of being a priest, he said, is “voluntarily choosing in the diocesan world to be celibate.” If men don’t feel called to that life, he insisted, they shouldn’t become priests.

But Father Curry said he believes that married priests would be a “great step forward, in the sense that being a priest would be more normal” in some cultures."

---

Source: https://thetablet.org/amazon-synod-married-priests-debate/

Donations to Married Priests R&D Accepted

Donations are accepted via PayPal to maintain the infrastructure for Married Priests/Clergy R&D, costs for advocacy with the Holy See and other bishops, and catechizing the Faithful on married priests according to Catholic teaching:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=2UP5UMQJZZCPS

Donations are not tax deductible.  Free free to copy the link and/or share.

Thank you for supporting the restoration of married priests in the Latin Rite in particular and your promotion of married priests in the Church in general.

For Nov. 2, All Souls, the first donation was made in memory of all married priests and their wives along with their families throughout Church history.

Make your donation in memory of a loved one today.

Married Roman Catholic Priest (2009): Fr. Martin Carter and wife Annie of Prince Edward Island, Canada

In 2009, married Catholic priest Father was 63.  That was 17 years ago, at the time of this writing in 2026.

Whether Father (and his wife) are retired or no longer walking the Earth at age 80, thank you to this married priest and his wife for their witness to the Catholic Faith and married men in the Catholic priesthood.

"Roman Catholic priest Martin Carter, 63, poses with his wife Annie during a reception after his ordination in St. Dunstan’s Basilica in Charlottetown Aug. 9, 2009. He is a father of three children and former Anglican clergyman."

Source: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/married---and-now-a-priest/article_d89e5891-e7e1-5179-8f30-9373d2765533.html

--

AI Search (2026): 

Service: He served as an assisting priest at St. Pius X Parish and later as Parish Administrator for St. Francis of Assisi, St. Martin of Tours, and St. Anne. He was also listed as Rector of St. Dunstan’s Basilica.

Retirement: Carter retired from active ministry in 2020 while serving as Pastor of Our Lady of Assumption Parish in Stratford and St. Joachim’s Parish in Vernon River.

Married priest martyr, missionary Orthodox Father, St. John Kochurov, married to wife Alexandra, and also son of a married priest, pray for us.

Married priest martyr, missionary Orthodox Father, St. John Kochurov, married to wife Alexandra, and also son of a married priest, pray for us.  

Pray for the restoration of full communion between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches, pray for Orthodox-Catholic relations, and pray for the healing of the Great Schism of 1054.  

Ut unum sint!

Source: Orthodox Church of America https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1573236691505145

Married Roman Catholic Priest: Father Bart Stevens is married to wife, Becky, and raising kids.

Pope St. John Paul II used the "Pastoral Provision" during the 1980s to allow Catholic dioceses to admit married clergy from other Protestant groups who enter the Catholic Church to be ordained Catholoc priests.  It was done in a limited way in every diocese.

Married Latin Rite Priest Father Bart Stevens, married to wife Becky and raising kids, was ordained under the Pastoral Provision pathway for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Great Falls - Billings, Montana (USA).

This is not the first time this was publicly done.  Pope Pius XII in the 1950s allowed married men to be ordained Catholic priests as well as Pope St. Paul VI during the 1970s.

Vatican Council II actually honored married Eastern priests, after centuries of tolerating it.

Actually, the 1917 Code of Canon Law also permitted the ordination of married men with what was called "Apostolic Dispensation" but open sources are usually quiet about who in particular used this canonical privilege for the Latin Rite.

In any case, there are no dogmatic prohibitions.  Latin Rite (Roman Catholics) folks are so used to seeing a priest without a wife, but actually this was how it was done for MOST of Catholic Church history in BOTH the East and the West.

It is good that we are seeing an increasing return to the ancient practice of married priests in the Latin Rite.  That's how it was done during the time of the Twelve Apostles.

Leo XIV acknowledges priest shortage: "...and I am going to tell you something that you must listen to, even if it worries you a little: The shortage of priests in France is a great misfortune! A misfortune for the Church." - Leo XIV (Aug 2025, during a gathering of altar servers)

The Bishop of Rome recognizes that there is a serious priest shortage and that this is a misfortune for the ENTIRE Church.

Previous Roman Pontiffs have seen this as well.  Noteworthy here, however, is that even local priest shortages have universal impact.  It isnt enough to say, "Oh, well, in this country or that country these are localized priest shortage situations, but in other parts of the world there is no priest shortage, so everything is fine since the priest shortage is just here or there."  This downplays the situation.

"Here or there" becomes gradually everywhere when "here or there" becomes "here or there" over and over and over.  Here or there can drain the places where it is not here or there.

As universal pastor, Leo observed for the whole Church:

"...and I am going to tell you something that you must listen to, even if it worries you a little: The shortage of priests in France is a great misfortune! A misfortune for the Church." - Leo XIV (Aug 2025, during a gathering of altar servers).(1)

Thank you, Leo, for not being blind to the grave pastoral situation before us.  At least the problem and neglect in the Church is being named.

So yes "here or there" may worry us a little.  Jesus, send us shepherds after Your own Heart, whether married or celibate. We trust You in this time of misfortune for the Church.

(1)Source: https://www.romereports.com/en/2025/12/08/data-shows-more-catholics-but-less-priests/

If you have not felt the priest shortage, you will. Wake up, Catholics! You need priests.

'Grateful for the +425 priest increase (+<1%) in 2023, but it is a pitiful <1% increase from the previous year. 

The bigger picture however is that, on top of this staffing crisis, the Catholic population almost DOUBLED from 650M in 1970 to 1.4B in 2020, while priests have stagnated/declined since 1970. 

 AND on top of all that, seminarians have a -2.7% decline (almost 3,000 drop) for 13 continuous years. 

 Even TLM/Trad societies dont have the numbers for the needs of the universal Church either. 

If you have not felt the priest shortage, you will. Wake up, Catholics! You need priests.