Following a summit of bishops known as a synod proposed allowing married men into the priesthood, only in the Amazon area, to address the serious shortage of clergy in remote parts of the rainforest region.
The head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State, Pope Francis is expected to decide on Wednesday whether to make a limited exception to the celibacy rule for priests,
A summit of bishops known as a synod, in October, proposed allowing married men into the priesthood, only in the Amazon area, to address the serious shortage of clergy in remote parts of the rainforest region.
The pope is due to respond to the synod with an Apostolic Exhortation.
The document, called “Querida Amazonia” (Dear Amazon), would be published at noon (1100 GMT).
Traditionalists fear that any opening could eventually lead to the complete abolition of the celibacy rule for priests, which is not part of church dogma but has been in place since the Middle Ages.