Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

Heading a southern Lebanese diocese in a complex part of the world, the one problem Melkite Archbishop George Bakhouni of Tyre says he does not have is finding priests. The archbishop knows all the arguments against relaxing the celibacy requirement in the Latin church, but he said that ordaining married men is the most naturally pastoral response to every Catholic’s need for regular access to the sacraments. “Christianity survived in the Middle East because of the married priests,” the bishop said. Because they are married with families and homes, they tend to stay, even when conflicts and hardship send many celibate priests fleeing to safety. “We always propose this to the Latin church…but we always feel a lot of reticence when we mention this issue,” he said.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

The 12 women whose feet were washed by Pope Francis included women from Italy, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Ukraine, Russia, Peru, Venezuela and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"We, the members of the Society of Jesus, continue to be lifted up in prayer, in lament, in protest at the death and destruction that continue to reign in Gaza and other territories in Israel/Palestine, spilling over into the surrounding countries of the Middle East."
The Society of JesusMarch 28, 2024
A child wounded in an I.D.F. bombardment is brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on March 25. (AP Photo/Ismael abu dayyah)
While some children have been evacuated from conflict, more than 1.1 million children in Gaza and 3.7 million in Haiti have been left behind to face the rampaging adult world around them.
Kevin ClarkeMarch 28, 2024
Easter will not be postponed this year. It will not wait until the war is over. It is precisely now, in our darkest hour, that resurrection finds us.
Stephanie SaldañaMarch 28, 2024