A major change could be on the way to the Catholic Church.
A number of Catholic bishops from all around the world are meeting at the Vatican to discuss the future of the Church in the Amazon, in a meeting that will largely focus on climate change.
But what is perhaps most notable about the meeting is the fact that the topic of married priests will be discussed.
The meeting will deal with the question of whether some married elder men could be ordained to help overcome a shortage of priests in remote areas in the Amazon region.
If it were to be approved, it would be a first for the Catholic church, as married men are currently unable to enter the priesthood.
The men would have to be “particularly well-respected”, and they would preferably come from the indigenous communities where they intend to work.
Professor Gregory Ryan spoke to the BBC about the situation, going into detail about the lack of priests in the area.
He said: “Pope Francis, coming from Latin America, has an instinctive understanding of some of the challenges of that region.”
“The concern of how thinly priests are spread in the Amazon region is really the fundamental thing at the root of this. It is tied in with the very strong Catholic sense that the Eucharist is at the heart of regular Christian community.”
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