Alessandra Benedetti – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images(ROME) — Pope Francis has suggested praying for more young men to enter the seminary should be the first way the Catholic church deals with the plummeting number of Catholic priests.
Along with prayer, Francis said in an interview with the German weekly Die Zeit that the Catholic church needs to increase its outreach to young people. He added that optional celibacy for priests should be allowed in isolated areas where there are no priests.
Despite growing calls from Catholic women for female ordination, the pope has said the door for women to priesthood remains closed.
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