Vatican Benedict XVI breaksout silence? Former Pope Benedict XVI publicly urged his successor. Francis to abandon the idea of ordaining priests of married men.
A pope who urges another is unheard of at the Vatican. Benedict XVI has broken the silence in which he has been since he left office in 2013 by inviting himself into the debate on celibacy for priests. In a book written with the ultra-conservative cardinal Robert Sarah, the former sovereign pontiff called there his successor François to abandon the idea of ordaining priests of married men.
Vatican Benedict XVI breaksout silence
A theological debate between the two successors of St. Peter which is crystallized by the local lack of priests in the Amazon who can give sacraments. In the absence of a sufficient number of priests in the most remote areas, a synod has indeed suggested ordaining priests of married men of middle age (called "viri probati"), preferably indigenous.
François must make a decision on this very sensitive issue in the coming weeks, but his predecessor is already lobbying against such a solution.
"I can't shut up!"
"Like (Saint Augustine) we can say:" Silere non possum! I cannot be silent! ", Wrote Benedict XVI and Cardinal Robert Sarah. The two clergymen ask the whole Church not to be" impressed "by" bad pleas, theatrical productions, lies devilish, fashionable mistakes that want to devalue priestly celibacy. "
For these two ultra-conservatives, "the conjugal state concerns man as a whole, and since the service of the Lord also requires the total gift of man, it does not seem possible to achieve both vocations simultaneously".
"The ability to renounce marriage in order to place oneself fully at the disposal of the Lord has become a criterion for priestly ministry," writes Pope Benedict. For Guinean cardinal Sarah, "priestly celibacy (...), if it is sometimes an ordeal, is a liberation. It allows the priest to establish himself in all consistency in his identity as husband of the Church" .
The first sovereign pontiff to resign in almost six centuries, Benedict, first imposed himself on a life of contemplation and calm even if he later expressed himself more and more openly on the key files of the Church Catholic.
Benedict XVI calls on Pope Francis not to ordain married men
Former Pope Benedict XVI has publicly urged his successor Francis to abandon the idea of ordaining priests to married men.
It is a very unusual initiative in the Vatican. Former Pope Benedict XVI publicly asked his successor Francis to abandon the idea of ordaining priests for married men.
In the coming weeks, Pope Francis must make a decision on this sensitive issue. Because, faced with the local lack of priests in the Amazon who can give sacraments, a synod suggested ordering priests of married men of middle age, preferably indigenous.
An idea that the former pope who left office in 2013 does not like at all. Benedict XVI expressed himself in a book written with ultra-conservative cardinal Robert Sarah, extracts of which were published on Sunday by Le Figaro . "It is urgent, necessary, that all, bishops, priests and laity find a look of faith on the Church and on priestly celibacy which protects its mystery", they affirm.
Being married and a priest is incompatible
The two clergymen ask the whole Church not to be "impressed" by "bad pleas, theatrical productions, evil lies, fashionable errors that want to devalue priestly celibacy".
According to them, being married is incompatible with being a priest. "The marital status concerns man as a whole, and since the service of the Lord also requires the total gift of man, it does not seem possible to realize both vocations simultaneously," wrote Benedict XVI.