Pope considers ordination of married men

The Association of Catholic Priests has welcomed an interview in which Pope Francis said the Catholic Church needs to consider whether to ordain married men who could then minister in parts of the world where there are too few priests.

However, the Pope insists he is not advocating removing the celibacy requirement from the priesthood. Rather he said he was willing to consider whether “viri probati”, married men of proven faith, could be ordained.

He made his comments in German newspaper Die Zeit “We must consider if viri probati is a possibility. Then we must determine what tasks they can perform, for example, in remote communities,” he was quoted as saying.