A Vatican police officer runs to his position as Pope Francis greets the crowd after a canonization Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 15, 2017. (Credit: Paul Haring/CNS.)
ROME – Typically during the Lenten season, things slow down a bit in the Vatican as preparations for the major events of Holy Week begin in earnest. In the absence of a single major dramatic narrative, here are a few vignettes providing the sights and sounds of recent days.
* * *
A group of some 5,000 Italian ex-priests who’ve gone on to become married is mobilizing in advance of October’s first Synod of Bishops on Synodality to advocate for making celibacy optional in the Catholic Church.
The group notes that calls to rethink the celibacy requirement have circulated in various Catholic arenas of late, from the pope’s own Synod for the Amazon to the recently concluded “synodal path” of the German Catholic Church.
Called the “Association of Married Priests,” the group elected a new president March 20, a former priest from Naples named Natalino Mele.
“In view of the synod, we’re preparing our proposal, which obviously won’t be the only one,” Mele said. “What’s happening in Germany is reason for hope … it’s an acceleration towards change.”
Posted by 