The Bishop of Antwerp, Johan Bonny, maintains his intention to ordain married men as priests in 2028 and trusts that the pontificate of Leo XIV will allow a formula to be found before that date that makes his project possible. The prelate has also warned that the absence of a solution would, in his view, represent a «fatal blow» to the credibility of the synodal process.
In statements to the October edition of Herder Korrespondenz, Bonny assured that he expects a decision before the implementation phase of the Synod on Synodality concludes. «I trust that, by the end of the synodal process in autumn 2028, an appropriate regulation can be found,» he stated. «It would be a fatal blow to the credibility and implementation of the entire synodal process if no regulation had been reached by then.»
Bonny places his trust in Leo XIV
The Bishop of Antwerp explicitly linked his expectations to the way Leo XIV is exercising the pontificate.
According to Bonny, his confidence stems especially from the way the Pope carries out his mission as a «bridge builder.»
«Like a good father, he knows what his children need, and that is not the same everywhere or for everyone,» the prelate stated.
Bonny also considers that his request does not constitute an isolated initiative. As he explained, other bishops from different parts of the world also face a serious shortage of priests and support allowing the priestly ordination of married men.
«We are not alone,» he assured.
The candidates are already being prepared
The new statements come less than two weeks after it became known that the project has moved from words to practical preparation.
Bonny recently confirmed that he has already begun training several married men with the intention of ordaining them as priests in 2028. The candidates receive theological and pastoral preparation while the bishop awaits the necessary authorization from Rome.
The criteria used to select them are similar to those applied to married candidates for the permanent diaconate: they must be at least 35 years old, have the consent of their wives, maintain a stable family life, and not have young children.
Bonny justifies his initiative by the situation of the clergy in Flanders. According to the data he provided in September, the Diocese of Antwerp has fewer than 70 priests under 70 years of age and nearly two-thirds of them come from abroad.
A trip to Rome with the support of the Belgian bishops
Bonny has now provided new details about the trip he made on his own initiative to Rome last June to present what he describes as a situation of «necessity.»
The bishop explained to Herder Korrespondenz that he brought with him a letter from the Belgian Episcopal Conference supporting his request. During the visit, he held conversations with Vatican authorities and with the General Secretariat of the Synod.
Bonny himself had previously revealed that he met with Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-sik, prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy, and with Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Synod. According to the bishop’s account, both committed to bringing the matter to Leo XIV. So far, the Holy See has not publicly communicated an authorization for the planned ordinations.
The issue has broader support within the Belgian episcopate. The Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels and president of the Episcopal Conference, Luc Terlinden, has shown himself favorable to opening the debate on the ordination of married men, although he has specified that the concrete project of beginning to ordain candidates in Antwerp belongs to Bonny and that it cannot be carried out without the Pope’s authorization.
The ordination of married men as a consequence of the synodal process
Bonny first presented his timeline in a pastoral letter published last March. At that time, he announced that he would work to identify and prepare candidates with the goal of being able to ordain married men before 2028.
The bishop went so far as to maintain that «it is an illusion to think that a serious synodal-missionary process in the West still has any possibility without the priestly ordination of married men.»
His approach affects the discipline of celibacy in force for priests of the Latin Church. The Catholic Church recognizes legitimately married priests—particularly in the Eastern Catholic Churches and, under certain circumstances, among married Protestant ministers who enter into full communion with Rome and subsequently receive ordination—but in the Latin Church the general norm continues to be the selection of presbyters from among celibate men.
Bonny now argues that the very sacramental structure of the Church requires having sufficient priests to preserve and develop Catholic identity. The sacraments and sacramental ministry constitute, according to the bishop, the driving force of all missionary activity.
The timeline set by the prelate aligns his project with the end of the implementation phase of the Synod in 2028. Unlike his earlier statements, Bonny now does not limit himself to justifying the ordination of married men due to the shortage of clergy: he explicitly links a possible response from Rome to the «credibility» of the synodal process and places in Leo XIV his expectation that before that date an «appropriate regulation» will be found.