Father Roger J. Landry
Fairfield County Legatus Chapter, Stamford, CT
“Married Priests in the Amazon?
A Discussion on Priestly Celibacy and the Missionary Outreach of the Church”
September 18, 2019
To listen to an audio recording of the lecture, please click below:
The outline for today’s talk was:
- Introduction
- The Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region, entitled “New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology,” October 6-27, 2019.
- Question of ordaining “viri probati,” or “proven elderly men” to the priesthood.
- Pope Francis’ words
- Distortions in media coverage
- Preliminary Distinctions to resolve terminological confusions
- Dogma versus Discipline
- “Priests marrying” versus “married men being ordained”
- Celibacy versus Continence versus Chastity
- History and theology
- Jesus
- St. Paul
- Church History — Council of Elvira (305), Second Council of Carthage (390), Council of Trullo (692), Second Council of the Lateran (1139), Council of Trent (1563), Vatican II, Sacerdotalis Caelibatus (1967), Pastores Dabo Vobis (1991), Catechism of the Catholic Church, Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist (2005)
- Threefold dimension of priestly celibacy: Christological, Ecclesiological, Eschatological
- Practical Considerations and Questions
- What to do about access to the Holy Eucharist in areas with insufficient priests?
- Would ordaining married men solve the priestly vocations crisis?
- Training for viri probati?
- Quantity over quality?
- Can a change in the practice be limited to a particular region?
- Are married priests practical in the WestDoes the emphasis on priestly celibacy deprecate marriage?
- Conclusions
- Questions and Answers
