Ordination Archives

Vatican says abortion, attempted suicide are bars to priesthood

The sacredness of human life is so absolute that performing or helping procure an abortion or attempting suicide is an obstacle to ordination as a Catholic priest, even if the man was not Catholic at the time the events occurred, said a new Vatican ruling personally okayed by Pope Francis.

Deacons step out of the shadows for a brief, shining moment

ROME— For a long time, deacons have complained of being the “forgotten clergy” of the Catholic Church, usually overshadowed by bishops and priests, despite the fact that there are now around 45,000 permanent Catholic deacons worldwide. While that neglect may be true most of the time, May 2016 is a

Pope Benedict could make rare public appearance June 29
- Catholic News Agency, Church, Vatican
- May 24, 2016
ROME — Former Pope Benedict XVI could appear in public once again on June 29, the 65th anniversary of his priestly ordination. Speaking after the May 20 presentation of a book dedicated to Benedict XVI’s pontificate, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, prefect of the Pontifical Household and private secretary to the retired Pope,
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Pope agrees to set up commission to study women deacons
- Church
- May 12, 2016
In response to a request from an international gathering of Catholic nuns on Thursday, Pope Francis said he will create a commission to study women deacons in the early church, to help answer the question of whether women could also serve as deacons today. Currently the Catholic diaconate, which is
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It’s time to reset our pastoral strategy: Ordain married men
- Church
- June 16, 2015
Holy Thursday commemorated the day Jesus “conferred his priesthood on his Apostles” (Chrism Mass). Most of those apostles were probably married. In doing so, Jesus effected a pastoral reset. That memory suggests the Church in the US could use a strategic pastoral reset and ordaining married men needs to be
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