Amazon synod proposes married priests, stops short of women deacons

The Amazon synod is finally over after approving its final document of suggestions for Pope Francis. This week on “Inside the Vatican,” Gerry and I unpack that document, and we dive into the specifics of its suggestion that the church ordain married men to the priesthood.

We also take a look at the synod’s call for additional research into women deacons. While Pope Francis’ commission to study women deacons previously focused on the role female deacons played in the early church, new calls from the synod are taking into account the urgent need for ministers in remote regions of the Amazon rainforest.

In addition to the synod’s concrete proposals, we take a look at the larger themes of the document, like the bishops’ commitment to take the side of the poor in the Amazon region. Faced with rapid industrialization by little-regulated corporations and the deaths of indigenous leaders, are the region’s bishops ready to follow in the footsteps of the “new martyrs” of the Amazon?

Links from the show:

• Bishop McElroy on the Amazon’s ecological crisis and what’s next for the women’s diaconate
• Synod votes to ordain married men, and to protect Amazon’s indigenous peoples and rainforests
• The cry of the poor is the hope of the church, Pope Francis says, closing Amazon Synod

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