"The
Brazilian bishops, especially the pope's close friend Cardinal Claudio Hummes,
have expressly requested Pope Francis to enable married priests in Brazil to
return to their pastoral ministry," Boff said. "I have recently heard that the
pope wants to fulfil this request — as an experimental, preliminary phase for
the moment confined to Brazil."
Brazil
is facing an acute shortage of priests. With its 140 million Catholics, Brazil
needs at least 100,000 priests but it only has 1,800, which is a "catastrophe,"
Boff said.
The
theologian linked the shortage of priest to the declining number of Catholics in
the country.
"No
wonder the faithful are going over to the evangelical churches or to the
Pentecostals in droves, as they are filling the personnel vacuum. If the many
thousands of priests who have married are once again allowed to practice their
ministry, that would be a first step to improving the situation but at the same
time also an impulse for the church to free itself of the fetters of celibacy,"
Boff said. CP.
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