Will Pope Francis allow married priests?

 Explainer: Will Pope Francis allow married priests?

James T. Keane January 29, 2019

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Pope Francis listens to a question from a journalist aboard his flight from Panama City to Rome, Jan. 27, 2019. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Another wide-ranging and frank press conference with Pope Francis on his flight home from World Youth Day in Panama raised a number of questions for reporters—and resulted in some wildly divergent headlines. Among the confused questions: Is Pope Francis open to married priests? Is he committed to maintaining celibacy for priests? Will men who are already priests be allowed to marry? Who are these “viri probati” who might make up the bulk of married priests? And what are we to make of the fact that there are already some married Catholic priests? Part of the confusion has to do with the variety of options and terms that come together in this conversation.

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