Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane has suggested that aboriginal tribes should be exempt from the requirement of priestly celibacy, because there is “no way you’re going to recruit a celibate clergy in those cultures.”
The archbishop said that this suggestion could be introduced at the October meeting of the Synod on Synodality.
Bishop Charles Gauci of Darwin agreed: “With Aboriginal people, we need to be respectful of culture. Pope Francis has said that he is open in certain situations to ordaining married men; that is not off the agenda.”