How progressive is Pope Francis? Not as much as many may think.
In a surprise move, Francis rejected a proposal on Wednesday that had called for married men in remote areas of the Amazon to serve as priests, a decision widely seen as a victory for conservative Catholics who feared such an exception would eventually lift the celibacy requirement of clergy around the world.
The pope, the first ever from Latin America, also rejected a proposal that would have allowed women to serve as deacons, an even more momentous change within the church’s traditionally male hierarchy that in many ways would have had a bigger impact on the faith than ordaining married men.
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