The Church in Portugal is “worried” by the number of priests leaving the fraternity in order to get married. The Fraternitas association is particularly concerned by priests’ lack of interest in asking for special dispensation, as this can be made available, explained the association’s president Félix Ferreira. In the last few years, as many as 400 priests have left their parishes and as Ferreira told reporters, in Santarém alone last year, six abandoned their priesthoods to marry and start a family.
