Pope Francis says Catholic Church is open to idea of married priests
Pope Francis says Catholic Church is open to idea of married priests CAMIL PARKHE | Sunday, 2 April 2017 AT 02:50 PM IST https://goo.gl/q409BX Catholic Church , pastors , celibacy , Pope Francis For the first time, hinting at doing away with the centuries-old mandatory tradition of celibacy for the clergy, Pope Francis has said that this condition could be waived off to overcome the prevailing shortage of priests. The issue of reconsidering the issue of celibacy for the priests has popped up several times in recent times whenever a new Pope was elected and each time, the popes have voted down even a discussion on the topic. The present pontiff’s assurance to reconsider the issue in special circumstances, therefore, assumes significance. In a recent interview, the Pope has said that he is open to the idea of ordaining married men to serve as priests in remote areas, which are suffering from priest shortages. In an interview with Germany’s publication Die Zei