Dear Pope Francis:

In this year of mercy, we ask mercy of the Church for the suffering within its own ranks. On the grassroots level, we meet priests who live in grief and sometimes in poverty. We welcome your acknowledging in Amoris Laetitia that “we could draw from the experience of the broad oriental tradition of a married clergy.”

Abbot Michael of the Order of Franciscans Ecumenical (OFE) brought the following to the attention of CCRI

The mission of the Order of Franciscans Ecumenical is to minister to married Roman Catholic priests by offering them a welcoming home, support, acceptance, affirmation of their marriages, and validation of their lives and ministries. It also supports efforts to restore married priesthood to the Roman Catholic Church. Canon Laws 212 §2 and §3 tell us that we have the duty to express our views about the Church’s “matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful.” Men who have left the priesthood to marry are made to feel that they failed merely because they wanted the fulfillment of wives and families of their own. Sadly, they have become disheartened by the Church’s abandonment. Especially during this extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, we ask that they be reinstated as official ministerial Catholic priests. Let us urge Pope Francis, earnestly and respectfully to reinstate married Roman Catholic priest at this time.

If you wish, we can send you a list of all the reform-minded Catholic organizations from North and South America, from Europe, Africa and Asia and countless Catholic individuals who support this petition.