Pope Francis might let married men become priests

<p>Pope Francis says he might be open to letting some married men become priests.</p><p>The pope said in an interview with a <a href="https://premium.zeit.de/aktuelle-zeit?wt_zmc=cross.int.zonpme.zeitde.printbox.ausgseite.bildtext.headline.headline&utm_medium=cross&utm_source=zeitde_zonpme_int&utm_campaign=printbox&utm_content=ausgseite_bildtext_headline_headline" target="_blank">German newspaper</a> he would consider letting "viri probati" — or "tested men" — be ordained in the Catholic church.</p><p>He told the paper: "We need to think about whether 'viri probati' could be a possibility. If so, we would need to determine what duties they could undertake, for example, in remote communities."</p><p><b>SEE MORE: <a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/pope-says-spreading-misinformation-is-a-sin/">Pope Francis Says The Spreading Of Misinformation Is A Sin</a></b></p><p>The Catholic church does allow married priests in certain circumstances. For example, Protestant married priests who convert to Catholicism can stay married and become a Roman Catholic priest.</p><p>But for the most part, the church says priests should not get married. The belief is they should be celibate, like Christ was in the Bible.</p><p>That stipulation rules out a lot of men who would otherwise be eligible for priesthood. And, as a result, there's been a shortage of priests around the world, especially in <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/03/10/pope-open-allowing-married-priests/98998496/" target="_blank">South America</a>. The pope is from Argentina.</p><p>Pope Francis has also been debating other groundbreaking changes to the church, like <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/02/world/pope-francis-female-deacons/" target="_blank">female deacons</a>.</p><hr><b>Trending stories at <a href="http://www.newsy.com">Newsy.com</a></b><ul class="inline-related-links"><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/kids-interrupt-dad-s-interview-on-bbc/">Watch These Kids Crash Their Dad's Live Interview On BBC</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/lt-gen-michael-flynn-registers-as-foreign-agent/">Trump's Former National Security Adviser Files As Foreign Agent</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/general-i-am-responsible-for-deadly-yemen-raid/">General Claims Responsibility For Raid That Killed Navy SEAL</a></li></ul>