Whether or not the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon helps open the door to ordaining women deacons, women will continue to play a fundamental role in ministry in the church in the region, religious sisters said.
Ten of the 12 small working groups at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon spent time considering the possibility of ordaining married men to address a lack of Catholic ministers across the nine-nation region.
Proposals for Amazonian development made by well-known observers at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon could conflict with the expectations of indigenous people unless they are included in decision-making, some synod participants said.
The synod of bishops meeting in Rome appears to be moving toward recommending the ordination of married men in the Amazon region.
While no one can predict what the bishops will do, one Brazilian bishop recently estimated that two-thirds of the bishops at the synod will support ordaining "viri probati" — a church phrase meaning "married men of proven virtue."
