Pope Leo XIV has been challenged to accept married clergy by 2028 as a solution to dwindling celibate priests accepting the call to priesthood, a test of what the church has upheld centuries ago.
Johan Bonny, bishop of Antwerp, Belgium has written to his parishioners that he will make effort to ordain married men within two year and would identify men to train as priests. This initiative is stemming from a drastic decline of priests willing to maintain the doctrine of celibacy.
The bishop believes the pressure to change this doctrine has grown louder and necessary today.
“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,“ he said. “Any delays comes across as an excuse.”
The big question is: Will Pope Leo XIV change the doctrine of celibacy that has been maintained for centuries by preceding popes who have made various changes but did not desire to change the church’s position on celibate clergy? If the bishop goes on against this doctrine without the permission of the Vatican, to ordain married priests, he is likely to be excommunicated. Is the bishop ready for this major shift from the doctrine of decades, Will this shift attract the clergy?
Pope Leo has been positive about celibacy on several occasions. However, the doctrine of celibacy has been debated in the Church’s corridors and in formal meetings. In 2018, Vatican summit of bishops, asked Pope Francis to ordain married clergy, and Francis did not give in to this call.
The Church stands on the conviction that celibacy allows the priests to be totally dedicated to the cause of the church yet the proponents of this new dimension, argue that allowing married pries will attract more to priesthood.
Married clergy is not a new phenomenon. In the Eastern Europe and Middle East, a minority has such priests.
The question remains. Will Pope Leo XIV change the doctrine of celibacy, to mitigate the challenge of low uptake of priestshood? Will bishop Bonny go on to ordain married clergy against the Vatican’s stance?
Time has the answer as the Church faces a defining moment on its conviction and teaching on the doctrine of celibacy.
