From The Tablet in the UK:
Pope Francis decided against giving the green light to married priests after the Amazon synod because he was concerned the debate militated against true discernment.
The pope felt that the discernment became impossible because debate became a parliamentary-style battle between different sides.
He has revealed his thoughts in a note in which the 83-year-old Jesuit Pope also emphasises that the “synod is not over”, calling on the Church to “continue walking together”. These and other comments suggest the door is not closed on future reforms.
In a personal note shared with the Jesuit journal La Civiltà Cattolica, Francis says that during last year’s synod there was “a rich discussion…a well-founded discussion, but no discernment”.
The Pope continues: “We must understand that the synod is more than a parliament, and in this specific case, it could not escape this dynamic. On this subject it was a rich, productive and even necessary parliament; but no more than that. For me, this was decisive in the final discernment.”
A majority of bishops attending the October 2019 synod gathering voted in favour of ordaining married men as priests for remote parts of the Amazon rainforest, where communities are unable to celebrate the sacraments regularly. But sources inside the synod say the proposal was strongly resisted by senior prelates in the Roman Curia who succeeded in blocking any immediate change.
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