Brazilian Archbishop Jaime Spengler OFM, one of 21 men chosen by Pope Francis to become a cardinal at the next consistory on December 8, confirmed plans for a trial of an Amazonian rite of the Mass and urged “openness” to the idea of married priests to serve certain communities facing a shortage of priests.
The 64-year-old prelate is a prominent figure of the Church in his native country and throughout South America, heading the Episcopal Conference of Brazil and the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (CELAM).
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A descendant of German immigrants, Bishop Spengler has been a member of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor for more than 40 years and a priest for almost 34 years.
After serving as Auxiliary Bishop of Porto Alegre for two and a half years, Pope Francis chose him in 2013 to lead the archdiocese, making him the youngest archbishop in Brazil at the time, having just turned 53.
The Archdiocese of Porto Alegre, which covers the capital of Brazil’s southernmost state, serves more than 2 million Catholics spread over more than 13,000 square kilometers, according to 2021 Vatican statistics.
With only 300 priests, the archdiocese has had to explore ways to overcome the challenges posed by the shortage of priests, a problem facing much of the Catholic Church in Latin America.
Bishop Spengler indicated once again that he is open to ordaining married men, the so-called “proven men”, to serve as priests, a topic highly debated during the Amazon synod at the Vatican in 2019.
The archbishop and future cardinal said in a briefing for the Synod of Synod at the Vatican on October 8 that his archdiocese is “investing in permanent deacons: perhaps in the future these married men could also be ordained as priests for a community specific.”
The issue of the priestly ordination of married men, currently not permitted by Church discipline in the Latin rite, is “delicate,” Bishop Spengler noted. “I don’t know if it could be the best solution to the shortage of priests, but we need frankness and openness to deal with it. “It’s a journey.”
“I don’t have prepackaged answers,” he continued. “We can and must face the problem with courage, taking into account theology, but also grasping the signs of the times.”
Bishop Spengler, doctor of Philosophy from the Pontifical University Antonianum in Rome, was born in Gaspar, in the state of Santa Caterina, just north of where he currently lives, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.
Santa Caterina is the source of many of Brazil’s priestly vocations and also the birthplace of two of the most influential figures in liberation theology: the late Archbishop of São Paulo, Bishop Paulo Evaristo Arns OFM, and the theologian Leonardo Boff, former Catholic priest and one of the founders of the movement, which gained popularity in the 1970s and emphasized freedom from poverty and oppression as the key to salvation.
Bishop Spengler has also supported an Amazonian rite of the Mass, something that has been under study since the 2019 Amazon Synod. A three-year experimental phase of an Amazonian rite will begin before the end of this year, according to Father Agenor Brighenti , a priest who directs the study of the Amazonian bishops (CEAMA) on an Amazonian rite.
Father Brighenti, one of the theological experts of the Synod of Synodality, is also the new head of the theological-pastoral team of CELAM.
In response to a question, Bishop Spengler confirmed at the Oct. 8 Vatican briefing that there is a group in the Amazon Episcopal Conference working on creating an Amazonian rite of the Mass, but added that he believes it could also be easier to explore ways to inculturate the Latin rite of the Mass.
The Brazilian cardinal-elect linked the need to have a Mass that in some way reflects Amazonian culture with the lack of access to the Eucharist in some remote areas of the Amazon.
“Today in the Latin Church we have the Roman rite, and the Roman rite must be inculturated in different realities,” he said. “Personally, I think we can explore this possibility in a deeper way… Of course, this requires special sensitivity and attention on the part of the parties involved, and also a willingness to find a path, a journey.”
The future cardinal also said that a challenge for the Church in traditionally Christian countries like Brazil is how to present the faith to the next generation.
Bishop Spengler’s comments echoed those made by during another synodthe 2018 one on young people, faith and vocational discernment. As a delegate to the synod on youth, Bishop Spengler told reporters that he thought the question of transmitting religious values to young people was at the core of all the bishops’ debates.
In the context of the current Synod, Bishop Spengler is among those who see deep connections between the Second Vatican Council and the push for a more synodal Church.
The Synod of Synodality is “an opportunity to rescue the main lines of the Second Vatican Council,” the archbishop said in a letter to the Brazilian Episcopal Conference this week.
“In truth, it is about developing the intuitions of the council fathers and finding viable ways to implement them,” he wrote to the bishops, noting that they should not fear controversies, which are only “part of the process.”
Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA.
Hannah Brockhaus
Hannah Brockhaus is Rome correspondent for Catholic News Agency. He grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a bachelor’s degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri.