VATICAN - Pope Francis has suffered a big defeat as he backtracked on his proposal to allow married Amazonian men to be ordained. After a series of criticism from his predecessor, Benedict XVI, it appears the Vatican chief's leadership is under increasing scrutiny. Pope Francis has abandoned his plan to allow married men to become priests in a surprise U-turn after opposition from Catholic Church conservatives.
A statement from the Vatican said: “The Amazon challenges us, the Pope writes, to overcome limited perspectives and not to content ourselves with solutions that address only part of the situation.” The ordeal surrounding Amazonian bishops began in October, after Pope Francis invited them to the Vatican for a synod, or assembly. Francis attracted criticism from the conservative wing of the Church when he suggested married men in the region could become priests, a policy that aims to address the shortage in the region.
This was seen by some as a contradiction of the traditional Catholic values of celibacy, leading to swathes of criticism in the Vatican’s direction. Also present at the meeting were statuettes of “fertility goddess” Pachamama, a god worshipped predominantly in the Andes and also known as the ‘Earth Mother’. The indigenous deity did not go down well with some in the Catholic Church, with some dubbing the statuettes as “pagan idols” and a “false goddess of mother earth”.