Word from Pope Francis that clerical celibacy is only “temporary” — it’s been the Catholic Church’s rule for a millennium — signals  further change, and possibly, priestly matrimony, in an institution that claims apostolic lineage and is rooted in the heart of the Eternal City.

The observation was disclosed to the Miami-based publication Infobae, where the Pontiff also pronounced that there is  “no contradiction for a priest to marry. Celibacy in the Western Church is a temporary prescription: I do not know if it is settled in one way or another, but it is temporary in this sense.” He agreed that the “discipline” of celibacy could be “reviewed.”

The Bishop of Rome, as the Pope is also known, has in the past spoken warmly of celibacy, allowing in 2019 that “Personally, I think that celibacy is a gift to the Church. I would say that I do not agree with allowing optional celibacy, no.” It is not immediately clear whether these latest musings signal a doctrinal U-turn.

The first Pope of Jesuit extraction has been known to surprise before. In 2013, aboard the Papal aircraft en route back from his first trip abroad as pontiff, he remarked, “if someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”  The Church’s catechism, or summary of doctrine, holds that homosexuality is “intrinsically disordered.” 

The spur for this latest dogmatic surprise was the “Synodal Path,” a three year old effort out of Germany that staked out a set of progressive positions, including urging Rome to bless same-sex unions. Pope Francis has been critical, telling the Associated Press that the “German experience does not help” because it is centered on the “elite” and does not include “all the people of God.” 

Francis went on to note that when “ideology gets involved in church processes, the Holy Spirit goes home, because ideology overcomes the Holy Spirit.” He has supported his own “Synod on Synodality,” a years-long conference whose next session will be in 2024. 

The consideration of celibacy comes as Pope Francis is this week marking a decade on the throne of Saint Peter. His predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, has been dead a little more than two months. Pope Benedict was known as a theological heavyweight and doctrinal conservative. 

Celibacy for priests is not explicitly mentioned in the New Testament, although Pope Benedict in his book “Salt of the Earth” points to a verse from Matthew that mentions those who “renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven” as alluding to the practice. At least some of the apostles were married. 

It was three centuries after Jesus died, at the Synod of Elvira, in 305, that the Church Fathers “decided that marriage be altogether prohibited to bishops, priests, and deacons, or to all clerics placed in the ministry, and that they keep away from their wives and not beget children; whoever does this shall be deprived of the honor of the clerical office.”  

During the Reformation, the marriage of such dissenters from Rome — Protestantism’s patriarchs —  as Ulrich Zwingli, Martin Luther, Thomas Calvin, and Thomas Cranmer was shorthand for their break from the Pope. Today, celibacy abides in the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Churches, with rare exceptions. 

Even as Pope Francis toys with celibacy’s end, the Church of England — whose Supreme Governor, Charles III, will be crowned in May —  appears set to reimagine the deity Itself. At the General Synod last month a vicar inquired about “steps being taken to develop more inclusive language” for those who wish to speak of God in a “non-gendered way.” 

Discussions are ongoing, with a spokesman telling the AP that “there are absolutely no plans to abolish or substantially revise currently authorized liturgies and no such changes could be made without extensive legislation.” A “project on gendered language” has been promised. 

The marking of a Franciscan decade transpires as the pontiff himself is ailing. At 86 years old, he uses a cane and a wheelchair. The current Vicar of Christ told a Swiss television station that he would consider retirement only if afflicted by “a tiredness that doesn’t let you see things clearly” and “a lack of clarity, of knowing how to evaluate situations.”