Paragraph 111 of Final Synod Document (Full Text)

Source: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/three-key-paragraphs-of-amazon-synods-final-document (10/29/2019)

Excerpt:

Ordination of Married Men in the Amazon

111. Many of the ecclesial communities of the Amazonian territory have enormous difficulties in accessing the Eucharist. Sometimes it takes not just months but even several years before a priest can return to a community to celebrate the Eucharist, offer the sacrament of reconciliation or anoint the sick in the community. We appreciate celibacy as a gift of God (Sacerdotalis Caelibatus, 1), to the extent that this gift enables the missionary disciple, ordained to the priesthood, to dedicate himself fully to the service of the Holy People of God. It stimulates pastoral charity and we pray that there will be many vocations living the celibate priesthood. We know that this discipline “is not required by the very nature of the priesthood… although it has many reasons of convenience with it” (PO 16). In his encyclical on priestly celibacy, St. Paul VI maintained this law and set out theological, spiritual, and pastoral motivations that sustain it. In 1992, the post-synodal exhortation of John Paul II on priestly formation confirmed this tradition in the Latin Church (PDV 29). Considering that legitimate diversity does not harm the communion and unity of the Church, but expresses and serves it (LG 13; SO 6) which testifies to the plurality of existing rites and disciplines, we proposed to establish criteria and dispositions on the part of the competent authority, within the framework of Lumen Gentium 26, to ordain priests suitable and esteemed men of the community, who have had a fruitful permanent diaconate and receive and adequate formation for the priesthood, having a legitimately constituted and stable family to sustain the life of the Christian community through the preaching of the Word and the celebration of the Sacraments in the most remote areas of the Amazon region. In this regard, some were in favor of a more universal approach to the subject.   

Passed by 128 (non placet: 41) 

"At No Time Was Celibacy Called Into Question": Synod Cardinal Baretto Jimeno of Peru

Source: https://zenit.org/articles/at-no-time-was-celibacy-called-into-question-says-cardinal-pedro-barreto/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EXCLUSIVE+At+No+Time+Was+Celibacy+Called+Into+Question+Says+Cardinal+Pedro+Barreto+1572365286+ZNP&utm_content=EXCLUSIVE+At+No+Time+Was+Celibacy+Called+Into+Question+Says+Cardinal+Pedro+Barreto+1572365286+ZNP+CID_affaf0afc2633df3a27270aeefd87135&utm_source=Editions&utm_term=At+No+Time+Was+Celibacy+Called+Into+Question+Says+Cardinal+Pedro+Barreto (10/29/2019)

Excerpt:

–Q: Proposed in the Report of the Italian Minor Circle A, was that the subject of celibacy be studied in an Ordinary Synod, with universal openness. What is your opinion on this?

–Cardinal Barreto: In fact, it must be specified that at no time, in no Circle, was celibacy called into question. This must be very clear: celibacy is a gift of God for the Church and it’s going to be kept. What has been spoken about is the possibility that married persons might receive Priestly Ordination; they are two different things. However, the most significant of this synodal experience was to put ourselves in an attitude of listening, in this case, to Amazonia and its peoples, to listen also to nature and to God’s creation, and to listen to God. This is a process we are initiating. The previous ones — I took part in one of them — were more thematic, so there was theological, doctrinal reflection . . . this one <did not do that>. This was a Synod — the first in the history of the Church — which was concerned with a territory, a region, but at the same time, with those that live in the region. In regard to the subject of Priestly Ordination to married men <who are> Deacons, it was said that it could be studied, but we focused on the Pan-Amazonian Region.

Benedict XVI "Did the Most to Expand the Number of Married Priests"

Source:https://catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2019/10/29/the-call-for-married-priests-is-nothing-new/ (10/29/2019)

In 1970, a group of Germany’s most prominent theologians wrote to the national conference of bishops, insisting that Pope Paul VI’s 1967 reaffirmation of priestly celibacy, despite so much momentum to the contrary, was simply not enough. They argued then that Paul VI’s serious reservations about ordaining married men (viri probati) cannot be the end of the discussion. They insisted that the Church should be confident enough to have a more open, more collegial discussion of priestly celibacy.

The undersigned, who through the trust of the German bishops have been called as theologians into the commission for questions of faith and morals, feel themselves compelled to submit the following considerations to the German bishops.

Our reflections concern the necessity of an urgent examination of and discriminating look at the law of celibacy of the Latin Church for Germany and the universal Church as a whole…

The Church must have missionary forces for the offensive, wherever such a thing is possible. In any case, the law of celibacy in force till now cannot be made the absolute point of reference of the reflections, with which all other ecclesial and pastoral considerations would have to be brought in conformity. If in the face of the “most serious reservations” the pope himself evidently does not reject the idea of the ordination of older married men (“viri probati“) from the outset and as simply out of the question (it is after all in some cases already practiced), then it is thereby affirmed that new considerations could reassess [überprüfen] the law and practice of celibacy…

We have made no rules for the German bishops. But we have the right and the duty in this troublesome situation, on the basis of our office as theologians and our task as consultants, to say to the members of the German bishop’s conference, in all respect for their high office and position of responsibility, that in the question of celibacy they must take new initiative and consider themselves dispensed neither through the former practice of the Church nor through the declarations of the pope alone.

The letter was signed by Joseph Ratzinger, Karl Rahner, Walter Kasper, Karl Lehman and several other lesser known German theologians. Three of those men became cardinals, and one became pope. Though he would later write some of the most beautiful things about priestly celibacy, it was, in fact, Benedict XVI who did the most to expand the number of married priests.

So we should not think that the issue of viri probabti — so much discussed at this most recent Amazonian synod — is somehow the unique fruit of the pontificate of Pope Francis. As George Weigel reported, one of the Brazilian bishops responsible for shaping the agenda of Amazon synod passionately exclaimed near the end of the synod proceedings “This is our last chance.” In other words, these men, many of them brought out of retirement, have lived their whole lives hoping for this chance.

Some Synod Fathers Say Matter "Reserved For Universal Church" But Others Say "Existing Norms of Canon Law...Allow Us to Consider This In Specific Context": Synod Secretary Cardinal Michael Czerny

Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.catholicnewsagency.com/amp/news/amazon-synod-document-calls-for-married-priests-and-increased-roll-for-women-20862 (10/29/2019)

Presenting the document at a press conference on Saturday evening, Cardinal Michael Czerny, special secretary of the synod, said some members felt that proposing to change the discipline of clerical celibacy should be reserved to the universal Church.

“Other felt that the existing norms of canon law... allow us to consider this within the context of a specific region,” said Czerny who also serves as under-secretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

"Impediment That Can Be Dispensed By Holy See": Synod Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay, India

Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.catholicnewsagency.com/amp/news/amazon-synod-document-calls-for-married-priests-and-increased-roll-for-women-20862 (10/29/19)

Except:

Cardinal Osward Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay and a close advisor of the pope, said in an interview on Saturday that he was in favor of the proposal, in as much as it represented a merely disciplinary change.

“I think that the present canon law…says its an impediment if you have a wife to receive orders, but it is an impediment that can be dispensed by the Holy See – and it has been dispensed. But I think there should be very clear criteria, conditions put [on the proposal],” Gracias said, referencing how the Church had worked to incorporate married former Anglican ministers who had been ordained as Catholic priests.

7 Out of 10 Amazon Synod Fathers Recommend to Pope: Ordain Married Deacons as Priests "After Fruitful Diaconate" & "Adequate Formation for Priesthood"

Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.catholicnewsagency.com/amp/news/amazon-synod-document-calls-for-married-priests-and-increased-roll-for-women-20862 (10/27/19)

The document proposes “to establish criteria and dispositions on the part of the competent authority... to ordain as priest suitable and esteemed men of the community, who have had a fruitful permanent diaconate and receive an adequate formation for the priesthood, having a legitimately constituted and stable family, to sustain the life of the Christian community.”  

These criteria, together with each individual paragraph of the text, was approved by a two-thirds vote of the synod’s voting members. 

128-41

71%

On the Eve of the Synod Vote: Fiat Voluntas Tua

Amen.

Melkite Patriarch to Pope Paul VI Advocating For Married Latin Rite Priests During the Second Vatican Council

Letter to Paul VI advocating for married Latin rite priests:

Source: https://melkite.org/faith/faith-worship/chapter-8#Priesthood_and_Celibacy

Some Answers to Some Questions: A Conservative Response to 10 Questions From Cardinal Urosa of Venezuela Regarding the Restoration of a Married Latin Rite Priesthood (or Re: Canonical Dispensation from Celibacy and Continence)

SOME ANSWERS REPLY TO "#6 SOME QUESTIONS"

Your Eminence,

Below is an initial response to 10 questions that appeared in the National Catholic Register HERE.

Excerpt of Cardinal Urosa's questions are in bold & editorial answers to the Cardinal's questions are in non-bold:

Some Questions

… Here we shall only reflect upon the possibility of conferring the priesthood on older married men. This solution must face up to various problems or doubts. I will mention some of these. Of course: It is clear that the ordination of older married men is a matter of discipline, of religious or pastoral convenience and deserves considering the pros and cons. Priestly celibacy is not a dogma of faith. 

1.) Sure, they could be ordained. But what kind of priests would they be? This needs to be discerned.

They would be Viri Probati Priests.  Viri Probati Priests are tested married deacons in the Latin rite who receive a dispensation from celibacy which is the norm in the Latin rite.  They would be ordained to the priesthood after a "fruitful diaconate" (perhaps after 3-5 years minimum serving as a permanent deacon or after 1-3 years of priest candidate formation post-diaconate).  This is a total minimum of 7-8 years of diocesan formation which includes the 4-5 years a deacon candidate receives for diaconate ordination.  Just as the dispensation from celibacy and continence is granted when faculties are given at diaconate ordination, so too dispensation from canons on celibacy and continence are granted upon receiving faculties upon priestly ordination.  The local bishop would determine whether this is needed in his local diocese.

2.) Would they be second-class priests, like the famous “bread and butter priests” of the past? 

No.  As the conservative Traditional Latin Mass priest "Fr. Z." blogs about permanent deacons, "A deacon is a deacon is a deacon," so too a Viri Probati Priest "is a priest is a priest is a priest."  Their ranking in the presbyterate, however, is junior to the celibate priests in that they are not "promotable" and do not serve as pastors or appointed as monsignors.  They are either "In Residence" at a parish or serve as "Assistant Pastors" but not Parochial Vicars or Pastors, even in remote churches or mission stations that really should be under the canonical jurisdiction of a celibate priest Pastor (or Parochial Administrator) which are canonical appointments.

Whether they are treated like second class clergy by other priests is a seconadary matter or effect.  Look to Latin dioceses with the few married priests overlapping with the married Ordinariate or Byzantine or Eastern priests that go to Latin rite events and ask if they are treated like second class priests during priests gatherings to answer this question.  The answers are there since there are already married priests in the Church.

Permanent deacons are already familiar with being treated like second class clergy, and it is from this pool of permanent deacons that the tested men, Viri Probati Priests, would be selected. 

3.) What formation would they have, that is to say, what studies would they require? The permanent deacons require serious studies, usually of at least four years.

There would be 2 pathways, both of which require the diaconate as a true stepping stone to the priesthood.  First, a married permanent deacon that does not have an MDiv equivalent must go through 4-5 years of diaconate formation as usual.  After diaconate ordination, he may be chosen for priestly ordination track but must have served in a "fruitful diaconate" for a few years with regular monthly formation, perhaps 1-2 years.  A total of 7 years formation minimum, just like an MDiv celibate priest is covered.  Remember, formation is not just in the classroom but in the parish, family and workplace.  It's like military people earning college credit for real world experience.  Married deacons have more experience in the world than a young celibate seminarian, so he has real world education and formation and life experience already.  Do not discount his family life in formation of Viri Probati.  How are Ordinariate priests ordained?  They do not need to take seminary again but are given a probation period before ordination as transitional deacons and then eventually as priests.  Similarly, married deacons chosen as Viri Probati priests would be required to have a few years more training for the priesthood.  All those without college degrees must go through the Diaconate Formation first before being ordained under Viri Probati provisions.

Second, a married man not a Permanent Deacon that inquires into the priesthood but holds an MDiv or equivalent (72 units) is academically qualified for ordination as a transitional deacon and then would need to wait the usual 1 academic year before ordination as a Viri Probati Priest.  As a married priest, he would be "In Residence" at a parish or assignment.  This pathway is more likely less common in the Amazon but would appear more in other Western societies for married men that hold an MDiv degree which takes 5 years to earn.  Most seminaries require this anyways.

4.)  And what would be their ministry … simply celebrating the sacraments? 

The 3 main Sacraments to administer would be Sunday Eucharist, Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick (Viaticum, Last Rites, etc.). The other Sacraments or other celebrations are secondary such as Baptisms, Wedding, House Blessings, Funerals, etc., which can be delegated to duly delegated deacons and some.of these even to delegated catechists.  

Viri Probati Priests would share the threefold office to teach, govern and sanctify.  He would have preaching faculties to give homilies.  He would govern a step above deacons who assist the local bishop in the bishop's governing office but below the local celibate pastor. He would sanctify through the Sacraments of the Church.  Do not separate these three in Viri Probati Priests, just as they are not separated in permanent deacons who are at the lower level of the hierarchy and share in a lesser degree the threefold minus (office) that comes with ordination.  Just as deacons advise the bishops and priests, and bring up neglected issues, so too the Viri Probati Priests advise the bishop and local pastor to whom he would report to and who discerns the needs of the parish.  Ultimately, the bishop is his superior and would assign the needed tasks in the local diocese.

5.) From whom would they depend … who would be their immediate superior? 

The ultimate superior is the bishop of a diocese, but an intermediary between the bishop and Viri Probati Priest would be the local pastor of a parish.  If the Viri Probati Priest is "In Residence" or as "Assistant Pastor" he does not have the authority of the celibate priest pastor.  While it is true that some married priests have served as Latin parish pastors in the Ordinariate, this is not common unless it is a small parish that doesnt overwhelm even celibate pastors.  Look to current "part-time" married priests and deacons as models.

6.) Would there not be friction between these “older priests only for sacraments” and the parish priests and parochial vicars?

As Cardinal Schonborn stated, the diaconate is a "laboratory" for the married priesthood.  If the relationship between priests and deacons is healthy, then there would be no friction. If as deacons there is friction, then there is indication that there would be friction as priests.  Nevertheless, these priests are brothers and are called to fraternity and to overcome frictions not from God. 

7.) How would the economic and administrative routine work … that is to say, who would support them in these extremely poor dioceses and missionary vicariates?

Married permanent deacons do not receive a salary for ministry in a parish.  They receive $0. This is whether they spend 20 hrs part-time or 40 hrs full-time.  They receive $0. It is a ministry.  Viri Probati Priests would be like permanent deacons.  Some stipends are permitted but one does not live off of stipends. 

There are some parishes that have part-time or full-time paid positions, and if Viri Probati Priests or Deacons assume these roles, then that is their "day job" or profession, too, but that is not the majority of married deacons or married priests who are expected to be already financial self-reliant.  The vision is that married priests would operate like married deacons.

8.) ... And then: This disciplinary opening up … would it be limited to Amazonia? 

It is suppose to be limited, but a slippery slope or consequentialist approach would say that it would open up to other similar regions, as Cardinal Turkson noted.  This is the main hesitancy that it threatens celibacy.  But as Fr Ratzinger predicted in 1969, there will come a time when "approved Christians in the professions" will be ordained by the Church as priests, but he added that the full-time priests will be needed alongside the "part-time" priests from the professions.  Both celibacy and married priesthood would coexist.  Celibacy will be renewed by it being fully chosen as it is in Religious Life or Monasticism.  

Furthermore, mandatory celibacy would remain in the Church through the office of bishops, the episcopacy, which has the fullness of Orders.  The ministerial priesthood shares in the office of the bishop and his high priesthood, but it does not have the fullness of Orders.  Bishops will always be chosen from celibate men. As the East maintains, the monastic (Religious, consecrated, etc.) is "most configured to Christ" and Christ's celibacy, not the priests.  Celibate bishops as Successors to the Apostles are "most configured to Christ" and Christ's celibacy, not the priests.  The image of a celibate Christ will thus remain in the Church until the end of time through her bishops and monastics and Religious Orders but not her secular diocesan priests.  

Even conservative authors will hold that there was a married priesthood in the early Church and will hold that they were continent, but as eminent canon lawyer Dr. Edward Peters wrote, the Church can abrogate both celibacy and continence or as one Synod Father said grant faculties to dispense from celibacy and thereby also dispense from continence in Canon 277.

9.) Would it not weaken the celibate priesthood in the rest of the world?

The celibate priesthood has already weakened itself since Vatican II.  It has been weakened not by a married priesthood but by its own merits.  Spiritually speaking, it is ultimately the devil attacking the priesthood not a married priesthood.  Earthly speaking, it has cost US dioceses $7 billion with a dozen or so bankrupt dioceses-- just for starters.  Perception wise, the Church is a laughing stock and priests the fodder of jokes in secular comments of priests and altar boys.  While even conservatives admit there is no or little correlation between celibacy and homosexuality, so too the issue here isnt homosexuality.  To strengthen celibacy, it needs men who will freely embrace it in the secular priesthood. Celibacy will continue in the Religious Orders where it will renew the life of the Church, but the secular priesthood in the parishes needs a new game changer, and a married priesthood would turn the public perception around.  There are 40,000 permanent deacons in the world, of which 20,000 are in the USA.  Most are married. Look to this group for issues like what to do about divorces, abuse, scandals, etc., and you will find these married deacons significantly lower in abuse than the celibate priesthood at the current time.  The wives of the deacons keep their husbands in line, but a celibate diocesan priesthood living away from community harms the celibate priesthood more than the married priesthood.  Look at married deacons and this is a foreshadow of how a married priesthood would look like, not perfect with its own problems but not unsurrountable.  The celibate priesthood too is not perfect and comes with problems, too.  All things being equal, while Viri Probati Priests are not the perfect solution, a married priesthood "alleviates rather than solves" current problems.  Both celibacy and married priesthood come with both blessings and challenges.  But celibacy would be strengthened and renewed with brother priests that bring the vocation to marriage and family life to the priesthood.  As Sr. Lucia wrote to Cardinal Caffara, the "final battle between the Lord and Satan will be over family and marriage." Restoring the ordination of Latin rite married men would defend marriage and family with the priesthood of Christ.  What better way for Christ and His Church to win the final battle by imbuing marriage and family life with Christ's priesthood on the Cross, by raising up men, Viri Probati, from the ranks of Holy Matrimony in order to defend both marriage and priesthood!!! 

10.) Can a regional synod approve a norm that affects the entire universal Church? One important synodal father has already indicated that the priesthood would have to be studied in its entirety, not only the topic of celibacy, and that it would have to be done in a general synod, not a regional one.

The Synod's job is to recommend to the Pope, even if a Synod touches on a universal issue. The Holy Father makes the final decision.  In theory, the Pope can issue a Motu Proprio without consultation and make disciplinary decrees on his own initiative as the supreme lawmaker in the Church.  But this Pontiff wants feedback through the Synod.  Whether or not the Synod Fathers give the 2/3 vote concerning married priests on Oct. 26 doesnt take away that the Successor of Peter holds the keys.  The Church taketh away and the Church giveth.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.

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

With Filial Love and Respect,

Nupta S. Vindicetis (nom de plume)

The Amazon River Flows into the Mississippi: Statistics on Declining Number of Priests in USA

Source:

Half a century ago, there were nearly 60,000 U.S. priests and about 90 percent of them were in active ministry -- serving about 54 million self-identified Catholics.

The number of priests was down to 36,580 by 2018 -- while the U.S. Catholic population rose to 76.3 million -- and only 66 percent of diocesan priests remained in active ministry.

According to a study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, half of America's priests hoped to retire before 2020. Meanwhile, 3,363 parishes didn't have a resident priest in 2018.

Every year, on average, 900 are ordained to the priesthood in the USA.

____

Go!

Discuss please.  I would be interested in hearing more from those against Viri Probati Priests of how to turn this around in the USA.

The Amazon River flows into the Mississippi.