A group of Catholic bishops representing the Amazon region have asked the Vatican to consider ordaining married men as priests and creating an unspecified "official ministry" for women in remote areas of South America, according to a Vatican document released Monday. The South American bishops will gather for a regional meeting, or synod, in October to consider the proposals, and if they vote to adopt them, Pope Francis will have to decide whether to make them official with an Apostolic Exhortation.
"While affirming that celibacy is a gift for the church, there have been requests that, for the most remote areas of the region, (the Catholic Church) studies the possibility of conferring priestly ordination on elderly men, preferably indigenous, respected, and accepted members of their communities," the Vatican working document said, "even if they already have an established and stable family, in order to guarantee the sacraments that accompany and sustain Christian life." Such men are known as "viri probati," Latin for men of proven character, and Francis said in 2017 that he is open to the possibility of ordaining "viri probati" in isolated communities where priest are scarce.
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