National synodal documents from around the world call for more lay inclusion in church decision-making, reports Sr. Christine Schenk. But will the process itself include laypeople in the deliberations?
NCR interview: "Women should be invited into every ministry or activity we have that's not doctrinally precluded," said Bishop Robert McElroy, one of three U.S. bishops at the Oct. 6-27 Amazon synod.
Just Catholic: Laws on clerical marriage and the ordination of women arise from the same misogynistic swamp. And each is what canon lawyers call a "merely ecclesiastical law."
Bishop Derek Byrne of Primavera do Leste-Paranatinga said he also spoke in favor of ordaining married men: "The duty of the church to provide the Eucharist ... takes precedence over the law of celibacy."
Ten of the 12 small working groups at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon spent time considering the possibility of ordaining married men to address a lack of Catholic ministers across the nine-nation region.
Among two main possibilities canonists discussed: Francis could issue new norms allowing bishops to deviate from the church canon requiring clerics to remain celibate, or he could invite the bishops to appeal to the Vatican on a case-by-case basis.
About two-thirds of the prelates attending the Vatican's Synod of Bishops for the Amazon are in favor of ordaining married men to address a severe lack of Catholic ministers across the nine-nation region, one of the bishops taking part in the three-week gathering estimated.
Distinctly Catholic: It is fine to criticize the synod's working document. But hysterical allegations of heresy and error tell us more about the accusers than the accused.
Priestly Diary: We cannot bring about real reform of the Roman Catholic priesthood unless we do away with mandatory celibacy, which harms the church and damages the lives of most priests.
