Eastern-rite Catholic bishops have thanked Pope Francis for his decision in 2014 to lift an 85-year-old Vatican ban on married priests for the Eastern-rite churches outside their traditional homelands.
Pope Francis “is a father who knows very well his daughters and sons,” including those who belong to the Eastern Catholic churches, said the Armenian Catholic bishop of the United States and Canada.
Bishop Mikael Mouradian of the California-based Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg was one of 15 bishops from eight Eastern Catholic churches who spent close to three hours conversing with Pope Francis yesterday.
The meeting was part of the bishops’ “ad limina” visits to Rome to report on the status of their eparchies or dioceses. They were the last group of US bishops to complete the visits, which are required regularly of every bishop in the world.
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With thanks to The Tablet where this article originally appeared.
