Top Belgian archbishop claims ‘married priests would be an enrichment for the Church’

The primate of Belgium, Archbishop Luc Terlinden, called for ordaining married men to the priesthood, which the Belgian bishops pushed for during the Synod on Synodality.

(LifeSiteNews) — The top-ranking Belgian archbishop this week spoke out in favor of married priests in the Catholic Church. “For me, married priests would be an enrichment for the church,” claimed Archbishop Luc Terlinden – who has led the archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels since 2023 and is the primate of Belgium – in an interview with Nederlands Dagblad on Wednesday.

“I see that in the Eastern churches,” said Terlinden, adding “I spoke to a Greek Catholic bishop and he told me that 90 percent of their priests are married. In the West, we do not always have enough respect for that Eastern tradition, which is also Catholic.” During the 2023 Synod, the bishops of Belgium expressed openness to ordaining married men as Catholic priests.

“In the context of the synod in 2023, we as Belgian bishops clearly stated in a document sent to Rome that we are open to a discussion about the possibility of ordaining married men,” Terlinden told the news outlet “In that context, we also ask for a certain decentralization,” said Terlinden, who alluded to statements of heterodox Antwerp Bishop Johan Bonny. Bonny said this year that he will ordain married men to the priesthood regardless of the Vatican’s approval. “The position of the bishop of Antwerp is his own initiative, but of course he cannot ordain married priests without the permission of the Pope,” Terlinden said.

“We bishops have a specific office within the church and are there as successors to the apostles. That is meaningful. The bishop is at the service of the proclamation of the gospel, of the people of God and of unity in the church,” he continued.

But then Terlinden tempered his comment, expressing support for the notion of synodality as promoted by Popes Francis and Leo XIV. “So with us the bishop or the pope always has the final say. That makes sense,” said Terlinden.

“But in the meantime, I recognize myself very well in the words that Pope Leo XIV recently said to the cardinals: I must listen before leading, learn before teaching.’” Archbishop Terlinden has also spoken in favor of “women deacons.” He went on record in December 2023 saying that while allowing women to become priests “is not on the agenda at present,” he does “believe that women should be able to become deacons.”

“They were allowed to do so in the early times of the history of the Church. But we must not wait for that to give women more responsibilities in our governing bodies. I shall certainly take initiatives in that direction,” he told dezondag.be last December.