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FORMER POPE BENEDICT XVI has publicly urged his successor Pope Francis not to open the Catholic priesthood up to married men, in a plea stunned Vatican experts.
The ex-pontiff, who retired in 2013, issued the defence of clerical celibacy in a book written with arch-conservative Cardinal Robert Sarah, extracts of which were published in exclusive by France’s Le Figaro yesterday.
“I cannot keep silent!” Benedict wrote in the book, which follows an extraordinary meeting of bishops from the Amazonian at the Vatican last year that recommended the ordination of married men in certain circumstances.
The pope emeritus, 92, and Sarah from Guinea weighed in on the controversial question of whether or not to allow “viri probati” — married “men of proven virtue” — to join the priesthood.
Francis is currently considering allowing it in remote locations, such as the Amazon, where communities seldom have Mass due to a lack of priests, and is expected to publish his decision in the coming weeks.
The pair asked the whole Church not to be “swayed” by “bad pleas, theatrics, diabolical lies, fashionable errors that want to devalue priestly celibacy”.
“It is urgent, necessary, that everyone, bishops, priests and laity, let themselves be guided once more by faith as they look upon the Church and on priestly celibacy that protects her mystery,” they wrote.
They warned of priests “confused by the incessant questioning of their consecrated celibacy”.
“The conjugal state concerns man in his totality, and since the service of the Lord also requires the total gift of man, it does not seem possible to realise the two vocations simultaneously,” Benedict wrote.
Sarah insisted that while celibacy can be “a trial” it is also “a liberation”.
‘Serious breach’
Benedict, who was the first pontiff to resign in almost 600 years, at first withdrew to a life of quiet contemplation in the Vatican, but has increasingly begun to speak out on key Catholic issues.
He and Sarah insisted their plea was not a “political manoeuvre” or “power game”.
But Vatican experts expressed astonishment that the retired pope would speak out on such a sensitive topic.
“Benedict XVI is really not breaking his silence because he (and his entourage) never felt bound to that promise. But this is a serious breach,” Massimo Faggioli, who writes for La Croix, said on Twitter.
Joshua McElwee of the National Catholic Reporter, tweeted that “a former pope speaking in public about something his successor is currently in the process of considering” was “incredible”.
While Vatican expert Iacopo Scaramuzzi pointed out that “cohabitation (in the Vatican) is difficult if the emeritus pope does not respect his own promise to hide away and obey”.
The idea of filling empty pulpits in remote locations by allowing married men to become priests is a divisive once, with critics warning the emotive issue could fracture the Catholic Church.
Supporters say it would not be necessary to rewrite Church law; Francis could simply make an exemption to the rules — like the one already granted to married Anglican pastors who later converted to Catholicism.
But the ultra-conservative wing of the Church — particularly in Europe and North America — has spoken out strongly against the idea, warning that making exceptions could pave the way to the abolition of celibacy globally.
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I pay a huge amount of taxes and I still pay to see a doctor or dentist. Plus I get the same pension ( more or less) than someone who has never worked. I pay for health insurance and my bins, a TV license and tolls on the roads I use. In effect I get sweet fa return from what I put in.
@Ben Jones: ‘This is the way’
@Ben Jones: If you are paying health insurance you shouldn’t be paying to see doctors. But I agree on everything else, You need to lose your job or have kids to get anything back.
@Ben Jones: yet
you drive on roads, rely on ambulance/fire/garda, schools, etc etc. Granted, there is always room for improvement. But take a look around, we’re not badly off compared to most of the worlds population
The councils in many towns and cities are an absolute disgrace. Run by minion’s who have zero ability regarding infrastructure based projects. Only interested in bloody cycle lanes and digging up city streets. Wasting taxpayer money because of zero accountability at the top. Banana Republic.
If you knew where your taxes went you would probably debate about whether working and even paying them.
Look around and see how many people are collecting , on disability. Etc and how much are they now sending back to Europe and to other countries. Like we can afford it
@Timo:
To paraphrase Moe Szyzlak:
Even when it was the bears, I knew it was the ‘immagints’!
BTW…Everyone pays taxes unless you live exclusively on baby food or off lotto winnings….VAT chance of that!
Comment of the month, kudos, sir!
@Timo: really. Have a look at what other countries have to endure. Which countries are better than here?
Why is there still such a reactive approach to this. Would wonder the cost analysis between costs of preparing all of these homes and premises for such an event vs the cost of clean up and insurance. This day and age, it is horrible to see such turmoil in people’s lives which can be prevented somewhat through proactively preparing homes and businesses for this.
@Michael Oc: how would you suggest a home should be prepared for up to 5ft of water flowing fast through it? How much do you think it would cost to prepare all properties for this? Also, how would you retro fit 100 year old buildings found in Midleton to cope with these conditions?
Are you for real?
Maybe should have been a little more specific.
Preparing homes also would mean preparing flood walls, banks etc of rivers to prevent rising water levels from reaching such.
So to answer your question, yes I am for real. Unsure if you are however. No name and all that.
Thanks for your contribution. You can take off the keyboard warrior costume now and play with your crayons.
Government cares about themselves only. Don’t fool yourself.
I think it’s time the Irish people all got together and went on the streets,is it today or 2moro these hate speech hate laws are to be voted in,Will be very interesting what opposition parties will vote,when Ireland is been spoken about on Fox news in the US and Elon Musk and other Countries,another conversation that needs to be had is why all the millions are giving to these so called NGOs,they are the 1s that protest against anything the Irish people aren’t happy with,no one’s tax money should be giving,aren’t they earning enough in the Dail,without paying people our money to stand against us,I just hope the farmers run enough candidates to form a party,because apart from Independents,the rest are obsessed with the EU,Sinn Fein I’ve always supported,they are on the EU train 100%
Don’t depend on the government to do anything. They’ve proved themselves time and again to be useless
@Martin Dennehy: I think it’s the local government to answer the questions. All of them parading into the dail today looking for relief. None of them were born yesterday. If they were true people of their own they would be proactive in these issues.
Gov. Can’t even manage the children’s hospital saga
Totally incompetent on every level
Figure out how much of your taxes gone in there
@Timo: That’s incompetent Civil Servants, not the government.
Ah yes, that magic money tree people believe exists for every want and need whenever there is something wrong.
@Temp Stuff: Well the magic money tree seems to arrive when politicians are trying to buy votes, appease the EU or the deluded NGO and virtue signalling mob when they want money for their latest bandwagon issue….amazing that
Don’t expect Varadkar to do anything. He’s proved himself time and again to be useless
@Martin Dennehy: if they’re all that bad, sure become a politician yourself and give it a go.
@Martin Dennehy: Yet their local government and TDs are directly responsible for dealing with flood measures and mitigation. After all, they live there, don’t they?
No money for flood defences, no money for Health service….. billions for Ukraine….. the country is being run by traitors
@Seamus Quinlan: you’ve got it all sorted. Do you really think the government can defeat nature? Ireland is not giving billions for Ukraine. The health service needs a lot of work but its a LOT better than most
These owners need to take more responsibility. Have they prepared for this flood warning? and are now complaining.
@Shane O Mac: Harsh – As the man said, it’s nature, but this time it swept in from the opposite direction. The flood routes have switched. They hadn’t any advance notice, nor any sandbags to fend it off. There are anti-flood works going on all around my area which is between two rivers. That’s visible and signposted & we can see it happening. They need to make their councillors accountable and more transparent about flood measures.
Our tax money goes into the pockets of the politicians, and to corrupt Ukraine Ireland is at the bottom of the list as per usual nothing changes
It goes on ‘disability’ and ‘dole’ and rent allowance and Christmas bonuses for see you next Tuesdays too lazy to get of bed. The other side of the coin is the complete omni shambles that is the Children’s Hospital. Why o effing why can things not be properly in thid Country?
Taxes won’t fix climate change.
Where are the trolls who belive if you live near a river you deserve to be flooded…?
Plenty of them about when it comes to Airport noise violations!
And our taxes fund unlimited welfare for the lazy and inflated wages and pensions for Public “workers”…
Don’t worry Corkonians, Michéal Nate Martin will be down to tell you that NATO Jan and Warring Joe has all our backs. He’s also going to ask Zelensky to draw some pics how they learnt from the floods and hopefully Michéal will do another field trip. (Ukrainian not Middleton). We’re so blessed to have a Cork schoolteacher with experience and eh..
Test
The areas of Middleton which were flooded were shown on flood risk maps 10 years ago.
No reaction from the people who live there.
On the other hand the projects which are funded have been tied up in local protests and judicial review for years.
In Cork city the River Bride culvert in Blackpool and the City center flood walls for example. -
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