Cardinal Jaime Spengler [Appointed Bishop by Benedict XVI], Head of Latin American Bishops Conference CELAM, Calls for Openness to Ordaining Viri Probati (Married Priests) During Synod in 2024: Archdiocese is “investing in permanent deacons: Maybe in the future these married men could also be ordained as priests for a specific community.”

 

His Eminence Jaime Cardinal Spengler, OFM, of Brazil

(age 65)

Source (April 1, 2026): https://ewtnvatican.com/articles/pope-francis-brazilian-pick-for-cardinal-urges-openness-to-ordaining-married-priests-in-region-3549

EXCERPT:

Spengler once again indicated he is open to ordaining married men, so-called “viri probati,” to serve as priests — a subject much debated during the Vatican’s Amazon synod in 2019.

The archbishop and future cardinal said at a briefing for the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican Oct. 8 [2024] that his archdiocese is “investing in permanent deacons: Maybe in the future these married men could also be ordained as priests for a specific community.”

The issue of the priestly ordination of married men — currently not allowed by Church discipline in the Latin rite — is “delicate,” Spengler noted. “I don’t know if it could be the best solution to the shortage of priests, but we need frankness and openness to deal with it. It’s a journey.”

“I don’t have prepackaged answers,” he continued. “We can and must face the issue with courage, keeping in mind theology but also grasping the signs of the times.”

Spengler, who has a doctorate in philosophy from the Pontifical University Antonianum in Rome, was born in Gaspar in the state of Santa Caterina, just north of where he now lives in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.

"This conference of representatives from the nine Amazon countries elected a new president last week [March 2026]: the Brazilian cardinal Leonardo Ulrich Steiner [appointed bishop by St. John Paul II]. This Franciscan is an outspoken supporter of married priests."

 

His Eminence Leonardo Ulrich Cardinal Steiner of Brazil

"This conference of representatives from the nine Amazon countries elected a new president last week [March 2026]: the Brazilian cardinal Leonardo Ulrich Steiner [appointed bishop by St. John Paul II]. This Franciscan is an outspoken supporter of married priests."

Source: https://hendromunsterman.substack.com/p/is-belgium-the-new-amazon-bishop?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPNDA5OTYyNjIzMDg1NjA5AAEe0ZqyBpqkAU_Igr5whGmSAQP6SceeXXjVRl4F0URjjvV68kB6BFEUKAS4-ps_aem_Wsb23PtlqVxa_R0jrkNkyQ

“The question is no longer whether the Church can ordain married men as priests but when it will do so, and who will do it." "Any delay comes across as an excuse.” - Bishop Johan Bonny, Diocese of Antwerp, Belgium (March 20, 2026)

“The question is no longer whether the Church can ordain married men as priests but when it will do so, and who will do it."  "Any delay comes across as an excuse.” 

- Bishop Johan Bonny, Diocese of Antwerp, Belgium (March 20, 2026)

https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/europe/belgian-bishop-plan-ordain-married-men

Letter to Pope Leo XIV on Viri Probati

Leo XIV

 

Prayer for the Cardinals Gathered to Elect the Roman Pontiff by H.E. Cardinal Raymond Burke

Novena Prayer for the Sacred College of Cardinals gathered for the Conclave to elect the Roman Pontiff

April 26-May 5, 2025

I kneel before you, O Virgin Mother of God, Our Lady of Guadalupe, the compassionate mother of all who love you, cry to you, seek you, and trust in you. I plead for the Church at a time of great trial and danger for her. As you came to the rescue of the Church at Tepeyac in 1531, please intercede for the Sacred College of Cardinals gathered in Rome to elect the Successor of Saint Peter, Vicar of Christ, Shepherd of the Universal Church.

At this tumultuous time for the Church and for the world, plead with your Divine Son that the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, His Mystical Body, will humbly obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Through your intercession, may they choose the most worthy man to be Christ’s Vicar on earth. With you, I place all my trust in Him Who alone is our help and salvation. Amen.

Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who trust in Thee, have mercy upon us!

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Virgin Mother of God and Mother of Divine Grace, pray for us!

Raymond Leo Cardinal BURKE

April 24, 2025

Communique to Synod 2024

 

"Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the recesses of your home; your children like olive plants around your table" (Psalm 128:3).

 

John the Baptist was son of a married priest of the Old Covenant named St. Zachariah

John the Baptist was the son of a married priest of the Old Covenant named St. Zachariah. 

"Once when he was serving as priest in his division's turn before God, according to practice of priestly service, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to burn incense" (Lk. 1:8-9).

Solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist

(June 24)

Also, see: https://marriedpriesthood.blogspot.com/2020/06/st-zachariah-married-priest-of-old.html

Request to Open Canonization Causes for Wives of Married Priests

If they are not on the calendar yet, consider movements for the causes of wives of married priests.

For starters, Therasia (wife of St. Paulinus of Nola) and Fausta (wife of St. Cassius of Narni) are possibilities.

Augustine wrote about Therasia's holiness.

The Latin-Rite Church of the 20th & 21st Centuries authorized the return of married priests, beginning with Pope Pius XII who gave permission for married Roman Catholic priests to serve in active ministry. It ain't just a Vatican II thing, folks. Pius XII departed from the absolute rule for mandated celibacy that started with Lateran I & II (12th Century).

Posted on www.Facebook.com/marriedpriests on 11 March 2024:

Names of 4 married Roman Catholic priests (ordained with papal permission of Pope Pius XII to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass AND "none of these priests was forced to relinquish marital relations with his spouse"):

1) Fr. Rudolf Goethe (1951)

2) Fr. Eugen Scheytt (1952)

3) Fr. Otto Melchers (1952)

4) Fr. Martin Giebner (1953)

[Cf. Rudolf Goethe, "Die Offene Tur," pp. 117-165, in 'Bekenntnis zur Katholishe Kirche' (Wurzburt, 1955) as cited in Joseph H. Fichter "Wives of Catholic Clergy," p. 97 (Kansas City: Sheedy & Ward, 1992).]

Posted on www.x.com/marriedpriests on 22 June 2024:

The Latin-Rite Church of the 20th & 21st Centuries authorized the return of married priests, beginning with Pope Pius XII who gave permission for married Roman Catholic priests to serve in active ministry.

It ain't just a Vatican II thing, folks.

Pius XII departed from the absolute rule for mandated celibacy that started with Lateran I & II (12th Century).

Posted on www.Facebook.com/marriedpriests on 3 March 2024:

Pope Pius XII was the first modern Pope to admit married men *back* to the Latin rite priesthood when, in 1952, His Holiness allowed a married former Protestant Lutheran minister to be ordained a Roman Catholic priest with the full rights of marriage which means that Pius XII did not expect continence of the new married priest. There were 4 married priests who followed that in Germany also dispensed by the Pope. This started BEFORE Vatican II. So there is precedence for pre-Vatican II married priests who celebrated the Traditional Latin Mass. Many traditional Catholics are open to married men in the Latin rite priesthood, so it's not just a liberal thing.

#ConservativesforMarriedPriests

Posted on marriedpriesthood.blogspot.com on 14 November 2019:

https://marriedpriesthood.blogspot.com/2019/11/pope-pius-xii-began-ordination-of.html