A Catholic bishop in Belgium has announced plans to ordain married men to the priesthood by 2028, despite the Roman Catholic Church’s requirement of clerical celibacy.

Bishop Johan Bonny of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antwerp recently released a pastoral letter claiming that “the consensus on this question is almost total” among Church leaders.

“The question is no longer whether the Church can ordain married men as priests but when it will do so, and who will do it,” wrote Bonny. “Any delay comes across as an excuse.”

The bishop said he “will make every effort to ordain married men as priests for our diocese by 2028,” adding that the vetting process will be “transparent but discreet, away from the media spotlight.”

Bonny cited a shortage of priests as the reason for the proposal, saying “the number of unmarried men who want to become priests has fallen to just above zero” in many dioceses.

“I will approach them personally and ensure that by then they have the necessary theological training and pastoral experience, comparable to that of other priest candidates,” Bonny continued.

“For many a bishop, the ordination of married men has become a matter of conscience. At that level, too, transparency, accountability, and evaluation are important for the credibility of the Church.”

According to Canon 1042, a man cannot be ordained into the Catholic priesthood if he is “someone who has a wife, unless he is legitimately destined to the permanent diaconate.”

The celibacy requirement includes some exemptions. For example, Eastern Rite Catholic priests may marry if they do so before becoming ordained. Once ordained, however, if they are widowed, they cannot remarry.

Additionally, married Anglican clergy who convert to the Catholic Church may remain married. According to a 2017 Los Angeles Times report, there were approximately 120 such married priests in the United States.

In October 2017, Pope Francis convened a synod to address the shortage of priests in the Amazon region of Latin America. At the time, the then-pontiff expressed openness to permitting “viri probati,” or married men of proven moral character, to be ordained as priests for that specific area.

Ultimately, however, Pope Francis did not follow through with the idea. Instead, he implored bishops to pray for more vocations and send more missionaries to the Amazon region.

In 2022, Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich told the German publication Sueddeutsche Zeitung that he supported allowing priests to marry as part of efforts to address sexual abuse.

“For some priests, it would be better if they were married — not just for sexual reasons, but because it would be better for their life and they wouldn’t be lonely,” Marx stated. “We must hold this discussion.”

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Michael Gryboski, Christian Post