Pope Francis disclosed that the Catholic Church has been reconsidering its stand about the prohibition of ordaining married men as priests.

The pontiff told German weekly newspaper Die Zeit on March 8 that the Catholic Church is reevaluating the idea in response to the palpable shortage of priests around the globe.

Francis stressed that he was not advocating the elimination of celibacy for current priests or its removal in priesthood requirements. However, he did express receptiveness to the idea in areas where the scarcity of priests is prominent.

"We need to think about whether 'viri probati' could be a possibility," he stated, adding, "If so, we would need to determine what duties they could undertake, for example, in remote communities." "Viri probati" is a Latin phrase that means "tested married men."

Francis said that the insufficiency of priests cripples the Church "because a Church without the Eucharist doesn't have strength — the Church makes the Eucharist, but the Eucharist also makes the Church." Establishing priestly celibacy as an optional qualification, however, "is not a solution" to the problem, according to the pontiff.

The pope's' interview with Die Zeit is his first dialogue with a German newspaper. Aside from his disclosure about the Church's openness to opening priesthood to married men, he also talked about the dangers of populism.

"Populism means to use the people," the pontiff explained. "Populism is evil and ends badly, as the past century has shown."

In response to a question on whether Roman Catholic priests could someday be allowed to marry, the Bishop of Rome stated in May 2014 that "celibacy is not a dogma" nor an unchangeable aspect of Church doctrines.

"It is a rule of life that I appreciate very much and I think it is a gift for the Church but since it is not a dogma, the door is always open," the pontiff said in a report.

Priests are allowed to marry in Protestant, Anglican, and Orthodox churches.