Pope Francis
Pope Francis, on Wednesday refused to endorse a proposal to allow
married men to serve as priests in the Amazon region, in what would have
been a special exception to the celibacy rule for clergy.
In an October summit known as a synod, Amazon bishops called for
admitting married men into the priesthood, only in their region, to make
up for an acute lack of clergy in remote rainforest areas.
In a document marking his official response to the summit, Francis
makes no mention of this, and also rules out letting non-priests give
the key sacraments of the Holy Communion and confession.
An exception to the celibacy rule for priests, albeit limited to
the Amazon region, would have likely enraged traditionalists, who
already see Francis’ papacy as too liberal.