VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While featured in some headlines about the working document for the October Synod of Bishops, debates about the general rule that Latin-rite priests should be celibate is traditional synod fare.
The synod's working document, released June 20, asked members to prayerfully consider dozens of questions, including, "Could a reflection be opened concerning the discipline on access to the priesthood for married men, at least in some areas?"
Beginning with the second general assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 1971, the regular gatherings of representatives of the world's bishops consistently have discussed the possibility of ordaining some married men for Latin-rite communities, particularly in remote areas where Catholics seldom have access to the Eucharist.
The issue has been raised at synods presided over by St. Paul VI, St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and now Pope Francis.
Rejecting calls from a minority of bishops, the 1971 synod under Pope Paul strongly affirmed the discipline of priestly celibacy for priests in the Latin-rite of the Catholic Church while recognizing that many Eastern Catholic churches have preserved their tradition of ordaining married men to the priesthood.
"The church has the right and the duty to determine the concrete form of priestly ministry, and therefore also to choose the most suitable candidates, who are endowed with certain human and supernatural qualities. When the Latin church calls for celibacy as a 'sine qua non' (indispensable) condition for the priesthood, she does so not because she considers such a form of life the only way to the attainment of holiness, but she does so by carefully considering the concrete form of the exercise of the ministry in the community for the edification of the church," said the 1971 synod's "message to the people of God" on priestly ministry.
Almost 20 years later the possibility of ordaining "viri probati" -- referring to married men of "proven virtue" and stature within their communities -- was raised again, particularly by Latin American bishops from vast dioceses with few priests.
St. John Paul II reacted strongly against that suggestion in his closing speech to the 1990 synod on priestly formation.
Acknowledging that the question of ordaining "viri probati" was raised as a possible response "when the lack of priests is felt tragically," Pope John Paul nevertheless told the bishops, "this solution is not to be considered and the problem posed must be answered by other means. As is well known, the possibility of appealing to 'viri probati' is too often evoked as part of a systematic propaganda hostile to priestly celibacy. Such propaganda finds support and complicity from some mass media."
Again, during the 2005 Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist, the first presided over by Pope Benedict, the possibility of ordaining men of proven virtue was raised as a way to provide priests for areas of the world where Catholics have very limited access to Mass and the sacraments.
"Some participants made reference to 'viri probati,' but in the end the small discussion groups evaluated this hypothesis as a road not to follow," said one of the propositions approved by the synod members.
In "Sacramentum Caritatis" ("Sacrament of Charity"), his post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Pope Benedict devoted a long paragraph to "the Eucharist and priestly celibacy."
"While respecting the different practice and tradition of the Eastern churches," he wrote, "there is a need to reaffirm the profound meaning of priestly celibacy, which is rightly considered a priceless treasure, and is also confirmed by the Eastern practice of choosing bishops only from the ranks of the celibate."
"In continuity with the great ecclesial tradition, with the Second Vatican Council and with my predecessors in the papacy, I reaffirm the beauty and the importance of a priestly life lived in celibacy as a sign expressing total and exclusive devotion to Christ, to the church and to the kingdom of God, and I therefore confirm that it remains obligatory in the Latin tradition," Pope Benedict said in the exhortation.
The question came up again -- and seemed to dominate much of the news coverage -- at the special Synod of Bishops for the Amazon in 2019 presided over by Pope Francis.
In the synod members' final message, they described celibacy "as a gift of God to the extent that this gift enables the missionary disciple, ordained to the priesthood, to dedicate himself fully to the service of the holy people of God."
But, they asked "that criteria and dispositions be established by the competent authority," meaning the pope, "to ordain as priests suitable and respected men of the community with a legitimately constituted and stable family, who have had a fruitful permanent diaconate and receive an adequate formation for the priesthood, in order to sustain the life of the Christian community through the preaching of the word and the celebration of the sacraments in the most remote areas of the Amazon region."
Pope Francis, in his post-synodal apostolic exhortation, "Querida Amazonia," acknowledged the urgency of ensuring access to the sacraments for Catholics in the Amazon but did not mention the idea of ordaining married men. Instead, he urged prayers for vocations and called on priests to accept assignments in the remote villages.
Many people were surprised.
But Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro, director of the journal La Civiltà Cattolica, later published -- with the pope's permission -- notes Pope Francis had taken during the debate.
The pope noted there was a "rich" and "well-founded discussion, but no discernment, which is something different from arriving at a good and justified consensus or a relative majority."
"We must understand the synod is more than a parliament," his notes said, and "in this specific case" of married priests, the synod "could not avoid this dynamic. On this argument there was a rich, productive and even necessary parliament, but nothing more. For me, that was decisive in the final discernment when I thought about how to do the exhortation."
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