• The Synod on the Amazon: Pope Francis' response in defense of the most vulnerable

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by Tiziana Di Giovannandrea 12 January 2020On the celibacy of priests Pope Ratzinger pronounces clearly: "I cannot keep silent, it is indispensable". Le Figaro anticipates some passages from the book of Benedict XVI written with Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship of the Discipline of the Sacraments, which will be released on January 15 in France.

The title of the work is " From the bottom of our heart " and is dedicated to the value of faith and the sacred importance of celibacy for priests. The book comes after the last Synod on the Amazon held last October where there was an opening, albeit minimal, with respect to the possibility for priests to marry.

Undoubtedly, the text is destined to make much discussion within the Vatican because Ratzinger is holding back on any type of reform, expressing full opposition to the possibility of opening up to married priests within the Catholic Church: "Celibacy is indispensable. I cannot keep silent. In recent months as the world resonated with the noise created by a strange media Synod taking the step on the real Synod, we met. We exchanged ideas and our concerns. We prayed and meditated in silence ... "they write in the introduction to the text Ratzinger and Sarah. He then added: "The celibacy of priests has great significance so that our journey towards God can remain the foundation of our life". "Personally I think celibacy is a gift for the Church and I don't agree to allow optional celibacy. No. Only a few possibilities would remain in the faraway places, I think of the Pacific islands, but it's something to think about when there is a need pastoral. The pastor must think of the faithful ", reads the preface.

"From the daily celebration of the Eucharist , which implies a permanent state of service to God, the impossibility of a conjugal bond arose spontaneously," explains Ratzinger. "Functional sexual abstinence can be said to have turned into ontological abstinence." "Too easy to say that all this would be only the consequence of a contempt for corporeality and sexuality" he adds, defining this "a wrong judgment".

Benedict XVI recalls that the Church "has always considered marriage as a gift granted by God from earthly Paradise. However, the civil status concerns man as a whole and since the service of the Lord also requires the total gift of man, not it seems possible to reach both vocations at the same time ". Therefore, "the ability to renounce marriage to make oneself completely available to the Lord has become a criterion for priestly ministry". Cardinal Sarah for his part explains that "celibacy is sometimes a test, but it is also a liberation", "a joy" and depriving communities and priests of this: "It is not a work of mercy".

It is now a matter of waiting to see what will happen with the letter of Pope Francis who will have to pronounce on the theme of ' viri probati ' in the Amazon, that is, the ordination of married men of a certain age and of proven faith who can celebrate Mass in those communities that they have a shortage of priests and where it is difficult for a priest to go regularly.