Married Priests Now in Brazil

PROCEEDINGS OF THE FOUNDATION AND DECLARATION OF THE
MOVEMENT MARRIED PRIESTS NOW IN BRAZIL


We, married bishops, priests and deacons of Brazil, ministering in various catholic institutions, together as married priests, originally from the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church, members of the Married Priests Movement (MPC)[1], gathered in the First Brazilian Meeting of the Movement Married Priests Now, realized in São Paulo, in the city of Atibaia, form March 23 to 25, 2007, under the spiritual guidance of Emmanuel Milingo, Archbishop Emeritus from Lusaka, Zambia (Africa); with the presence of the clergy of the Brazilian Apostolic Catholic Church and his patriarch, Dom Luis Fernando Mendez; the clergy of the Catholic Apostolic Missionary Church of Evangelization; the clergy of the Catholic Orthodox Charismatic Church; the Franciscan Congregation of Useless Servants members; the URI (United religions Initiatives) members and the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (Unification Church) members.

WE DECLARE THAT:

1. The family is a holy institution created by God;

2. The family is the way for the human beings to continue their lineage, their descendance and the future of humankind;

3. The human sainthood is in the priesthood and in the family, not in the compulsory celibacy;

4. The family is the school of love with distinctive expressions, then it is a human, spiritual, biological and social necessity;

5. The formation of the family is a divine right endowed to all human beings, including the priests and all members of the diverse religious manifestations of the world;

6. The Movement Married Priests Now does not aim to oppose the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church, or any other religious denominations, but the defense of the human right to establish consegrated families and the free expression of their religiosity;

7. The spiritual inspiration endowed by Jesus to archbishop Emmanuel Milingo with the authority of Jesus´s blood, all married priests are forgiven of all mistakes or spiritual injury, coming from the decision to establish their family and to multiply their descendance and lineage on Earth; all married priests are free from all punishments coming from the excommunication of any religious institution; all married priests are authorized to celebrate the Holy Mass and minister the sacraments in their families and their communities, according to the spiritual necessity of the christian people of Brazil.

8. The radical defense of the celibacy (the interdiction to realize a family) imposed by the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church to hundreds of thousands of his members, denies the origin and the divine nature of the family institution (Gn 1, 28), is contrary to the biblical affirmation (Tite 1, 6; Tm 3), and violate one the most vital and sacred human right. However, the time has arrived for the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church to rethink her position and to restore this God´s given human right.

To conclude, we urge all religious believers and all brazilian to support the Movement Married Priests Now in order to empower the christian faith and to contribute for the establisment of healthy families centralized on Deus, which are the base for the social peace and the roots for the Kingdom of God in Brazil and in the world.

[1] Movimento de Padres Casados