Brazil may soon have married priests, says Leonardo Boff

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Pope Francis may soon fulfill the Brazilian bishops’ special request to allow married priests to resume their priestly ministry, liberation theologian Leonardo Boff said in a Dec. 25 interview in the German daily Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger.

“The Brazilian bishops, especially the pope’s close friend Cardinal Claudio Hummes, have expressly requested Pope Francis to enable married priests in Brazil to return to their pastoral ministry,” Boff said. “I have recently heard that the pope wants to fulfil this request — as an experimental, preliminary phase for the moment confined to Brazil.”

With its 140 million Catholics, Brazil needs at least 100,000 priests but it only has 1,800, which is a “catastrophe,” Boff said. “No wonder the faithful are going over to the evangelical churches or to the Pentecostals in droves, as they are filling the personnel vacuum. If the many thousands of priests who have married are once again allowed to practice their ministry, that would be a first step to improving the situation but at the same time also an impulse for the church to free itself of the fetters of celibacy.”

ncronline.org/news/vatican/brazil-may-soon-have-married-priests-says-leonardo-boff#.WGbX9EbSO3Q.twitter
 
I’m sympathetic with what he’s saying, but I don’t think “fetters of celibacy” is the best word choice.
 
This seems to be a different scenario, but I remember reading some time ago that the Holy Father was considering the request from some Brazilian bishops to ordain proven, married deacons to the priesthood to address true pastoral needs. Americans and Canadians may complain of a priest shortage, but compared to many (most?) areas of Latin America we have priests up to our ears…we’re talking one priest per 10 000 or more faithful in many, many cases.
 
This is not the way to get more priests, having married priests is not only wrong theologically, but also practically speaking. You cannot take a vow of poverty if you have a family you must try and support. You cannot be married to the Church if your already married. Are the saints and Popes who were before us now suddenly all wrong?

God Bless

Thank you for reading
Josh
 
gilliam said:
Pope Francis may soon fulfill the Brazilian bishops’ special request to allow married priests to resume their priestly ministry, liberation theologian Leonardo Boff said in a Dec. 25 interview in the German daily Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger.

“The Brazilian bishops, especially the pope’s close friend Cardinal Claudio Hummes, have expressly requested Pope Francis to enable married priests in Brazil to return to their pastoral ministry,” Boff said. “I have recently heard that the pope wants to fulfil this request — as an experimental, preliminary phase for the moment confined to Brazil.”

With its 140 million Catholics, Brazil needs at least 100,000 priests but it only has 1,800, which is a “catastrophe,” Boff said. “No wonder the faithful are going over to the evangelical churches or to the Pentecostals in droves, as they are filling the personnel vacuum. If the many thousands of priests who have married are once again allowed to practice their ministry, that would be a first step to improving the situation but at the same time also an impulse for the church to free itself of the fetters of celibacy.”

ncronline.org/news/vatican/brazil-may-soon-have-married-priests-says-leonardo-boff#.WGbX9EbSO3Q.twitter
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Brazil already has married Catholic priests. There’s a large Lebanese descended population there so there is logically a large Maronite Catholic population there.
 
Sensationalism at its finest. All this dissident priest gives is hearsay. Did anyone take a look at the source? The National Catholic Reporter (no emphasis on the word Catholic), if anyone remembers, narrowly beat out Eye of the Tiber for Best Catholic News Satire. This man broke his vow of celibacy to get “married” in the early 90’s, so it’s no wonder that he sees celibacy as a “fetter”. I’ll take what he says with a grain of salt.

Besides, a priest can’t become a married man. If this were to ever happen, only a married man would be allowed to become a priest, just like our Eastern Catholic brothers. Priests who never married before their ordination will never be allowed to be married, so the confused folks at the NCR can keep on speculating with their favorite dissident clergymen as long as they like, because it ain’t happening.
 
billy15 said:
Sensationalism at its finest. All this dissident priest gives is hearsay. Did anyone take a look at the source? The National Catholic Reporter (no emphasis on the word Catholic), if anyone remembers, narrowly beat out Eye of the Tiber for Best Catholic News Satire. This man broke his vow of celibacy to get “married” in the early 90’s, so it’s no wonder that he sees celibacy as a “fetter”. I’ll take what he says with a grain of salt.

Besides, a priest can’t become a married man. If this were to ever happen, only a married man would be allowed to become a priest, just like our Eastern Catholic brothers. Priests who never married before their ordination will never be allowed to be married, so the confused folks at the NCR can keep on speculating with their favorite dissident clergymen as long as they like, because it ain’t happening.
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What is the connection in the first sentence of your second paragraph?

ICXC NIKA
 
I realize that this comes from the National Catholic Reporter, but is this really true? Only 1800 priests in all of Brazil? And that “thousands” of them are suddenly marrying and leaving the priesthood? What is going on down there? :eek:
 
boomerang said:
I realize that this comes from the National Catholic Reporter, but is this really true? Only 1800 priests in all of Brazil? And that “thousands” of them are suddenly marrying and leaving the priesthood? What is going on down there? :eek:
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I wondered about the numbers too.
 
GEddie said:
What is the connection in the first sentence of your second paragraph?

ICXC NIKA
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I’m not sure what you mean.

I was referring to the fact that priests (like Fr. Boff) can’t become married men, but married men (such as a few members of my own family in the UGCC) can become priests. In the article, Boff was asked " if he, as a former Franciscan, would reassume his priestly ministry should the pope decide to acquiesce to the Brazilian bishops’ request, Boff replied, ‘I personally do not need such a decision.’"

Him being civilly married, I don’t see how he and others who have left the priesthood to get married civilly could resume their priestly functions without fully reconciling with the Church.
 
josh987654321 said:
So they enter it with the intention of acquiring wealth (mammon)? :ehh:
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Your use of extremes is not furthering your point. Diocesan priests, who as correctly pointed out do not take a vow of poverty, clearly are in the wrong line of work if their intent is to “acquire wealth” – for starters, they’re not paid enough. My daughter made more than our bishop within a month of leaving grad school. Diocesan priests are, however, allowed to keep gifts of money or property, often as inheritances from their family. They don’t have to drive 10-year-old Chevys. They are both allowed and encouraged to save for their retirement, which may involve investment vehicles such as IRA’s. None of that can be equated to entering the priesthood to "acquire wealth…
 
billy15 said:
I’m not sure what you mean.

I was referring to the fact that priests (like Fr. Boff) can’t become married men, but married men (such as a few members of my own family in the UGCC) can become priests. In the article, Boff was asked " if he, as a former Franciscan, would reassume his priestly ministry should the pope decide to acquiesce to the Brazilian bishops’ request, Boff replied, ‘I personally do not need such a decision.’"

Him being civilly married, I don’t see how he and others who have left the priesthood to get married civilly could resume their priestly functions without fully reconciling with the Church.
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I meant, why would allowing priests to get married (in that order) lead to only married men being ordained? What is the connection?

ICXC NIKA
 
billy15 said:
I’m not sure what you mean.

I was referring to the fact that priests (like Fr. Boff) can’t become married men, but married men (such as a few members of my own family in the UGCC) can become priests. In the article, Boff was asked " if he, as a former Franciscan, would reassume his priestly ministry should the pope decide to acquiesce to the Brazilian bishops’ request, Boff replied, ‘I personally do not need such a decision.’"

Him being civilly married, I don’t see how he and others who have left the priesthood to get married civilly could resume their priestly functions without fully reconciling with the Church.
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A priest who petitions for a rescript may most certainly marry and marry in the Church, if that was part of the rescript. Obviously, they never lose the ontological character and so, even after the rescript, they can still function as a priest and sometimes even return to full time ministry.
 
josh987654321 said:
This is not the way to get more priests, having married priests is not only wrong theologically, but also practically speaking. You cannot take a vow of poverty if you have a family you must try and support. You cannot be married to the Church if your already married. Are the saints and Popes who were before us now suddenly all wrong?

God Bless

Thank you for reading
Josh
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Hello, there is no theological reasons why priests cannot marry, and secular priests do not take vows of poverty.

Don’t forget that there are 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with Rome and many of them, if not all, allow married priests. Also there are many married Roman Catholic priests who are converts from Anglicanism or other protestant denomination.

In fact not generally allowing married priests seems peculiar to the RCC.
 
josh987654321 said:
This is not the way to get more priests, having married priests is not only wrong theologically, but also practically speaking. You cannot take a vow of poverty if you have a family you must try and support. You cannot be married to the Church if your already married. Are the saints and Popes who were before us now suddenly all wrong?

God Bless

Thank you for reading
Josh
Click to expand...
There is absolutely nothing wrong theologically with regard to married priests. We have now and have had married Catholic Priests in the East. We have married Catholic priests in the Occidental Church in the Ordinariates for the Anglicans as well as the pastoral provision that was created for them. The Orthodox and other non-Catholic Churches of the East have married priests.

We who are diocesan priests do not take a vow of poverty.
 
If this report is accurate, I am of mixed feelings about allowing dissident priests who betrayed their promises or vows and left the Church to get civilly married. I suppose if the pastoral need is really great, and what I understand of the Church in Brazil is that it might very well be, I suppose it could be a possible (partial) solution. But I think I’d rather allow loyal, married, permanent deacons discern possible priestly vocations first. Does anyone know how many permanent deacons there are in Brazil?
 
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