The Catholic Church just took a baby step toward married priests, 'official ministry' for women

A group of Catholic bishops representing the Amazon region have asked the Vatican to consider ordaining married men as priests and creating an unspecified "official ministry" for women in remote areas of South America, according to a Vatican document released Monday. The South American bishops will gather for a regional meeting, or synod, in October to consider the proposals, and if they vote to adopt them, Pope Francis will have to decide whether to make them official with an Apostolic Exhortation.

"While affirming that celibacy is a gift for the church, there have been requests that, for the most remote areas of the region, (the Catholic Church) studies the possibility of conferring priestly ordination on elderly men, preferably indigenous, respected, and accepted members of their communities," the Vatican working document said, "even if they already have an established and stable family, in order to guarantee the sacraments that accompany and sustain Christian life." Such men are known as "viri probati," Latin for men of proven character, and Francis said in 2017 that he is open to the possibility of ordaining "viri probati" in isolated communities where priest are scarce.

In the Catholic Church, only priests can say Mass or hear confession, and the only exception to the rule that priests must be celibate is if certain ordained married male ministers convert to Catholicism. Monsignor Fabio Fabene, undersecretary of the Vatican department that organizes synods, told Reuters that requests for considering "viri probati" had been "very widespread" in the Amazon region. "Some Catholic scholars have said the approval of 'viri probati' in the Amazon may eventually pave the way for their use elsewhere in the world as a response to the shortage of priests," Reuters reports.

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The synod working document also called for strong environmental protections for the Amazon to fight deforestation and illegal mining and development projects.