CONCERNING OBJECTIONS TO CHURCH'S TEACHING ON RECEPTION OF HOLY COMMUNION BY DIVORCED AND REMARRIED

LOL...I thought of Kenny also when I read Padraigs post...to funny : )

 

Great song! One of my favorites!

 

I was praying over this tonight. Unfortunately, at least two bishops' conferences have decided against letting the hare sit, apparently:

Polish Bishops’ Conference rejects Holy Communion for divorced and ‘remarried’


The Polish Bishops’ Conference has issued a communiqué firmly rejecting the proposals that divorced and “remarried” Catholics should be admitted to Holy Communion without amendment of life.

The communiqué, published on 12th March, includes the following statement:

“In view of the upcoming Extraordinary Synod of Bishops in Rome, the bishops have undertaken a reflection on marriage and family. This reflection demonstrated the importance of the family from the perspective of philosophical, theological and legal issues.

“Identified once again was the indispensable importance of the sacrament of marriage, and the family for the growth of Christian life within the Church.

“Emphasized was the need to promote the pastoral care of families, to strengthen the faithful in understanding and the implementation of sacramental marriage, as understood as a sacred and indissoluble union between a woman and a man.

“The teaching and the tradition of the Church shows that people living in non-sacramental union deprive themselves of the possibility of receiving Holy Communion.*

“Pastoral care must be provided for those living in such unions so that they may be able to keep the faith and continue in the community of the Church. Pastoral care of those in non-sacramental unions should also take account of children, who have the right to participate fully in the life and mission of the Church.”

* Voice of the Family note: The reference here is to invalid unions contracted by Catholics. Catholics in valid natural marriages, which occur when a Catholic marries an unbaptised person, may, of course, receive the sacraments.

Reprinted with permission form Voice of the Family.

‘We are not a subsidiary of Rome’: Are Germany’s bishops ready for schism over Church teaching on marriage?


HILDESHEIM, Germany, March 4, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Remarks last month by one of Pope Francis’ closest advisors has observers wondering if the German bishops are signaling their readiness for a de facto schism over Church teaching on sexual morality.

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the head of the German Catholic bishops’ conference and a member of Pope Francis’ so-called Council of Nine, told reporters that they would chart their own course on the question of allowing Communion for those in “irregular” sexual unions.

“We are not a subsidiary of Rome,” he said. “The Synod cannot prescribe in detail what we should do in Germany.”

“Each Episcopal Conference is responsible for the pastoral care in their culture, and has to proclaim the Gospel as their very own office,” Marx continued. “We cannot wait until a synod states something, as we have here to undertake in this place marriage and family ministry.”

Marx was speaking at a press conference at the bishops’ Spring General Assembly, and said that the German Church expects “new approaches” to be found at the upcoming Synod in October to “help ensure that doors are opened” for those who are in what is usually termed “irregular unions.” He said that the conference would be producing another paper on the subject in the coming weeks.

In January, Cardinal Marx gave an interview with the liberal US magazine America, indicating that it is not only on the issue of the divorced and civilly remarried that the German Church is currently deliberating. Asked whether the Catholic Church would ever endorse homosexual unions, the cardinal responded, “I have also previously mentioned the question of accompanying people, to see what people are doing in their lives and in their personal situation,” and added that the desire for “life-long fidelity is right and good.”

“The Church says that a gay relationship is not on the same level as a relationship between a man and a woman. That is clear,” he continued. “But when they are faithful, when they are engaged for the poor, when they are working, it is not possible to say, ‘Everything you do, because you are a homosexual, is negative.’”

This is not the first time the German hierarchy has indicated that they will ignore instruction from Rome. In 2013, the German episcopate issued “guidelines” that said the choice to receive Communion must be left up to the individual based on his or her own subjective criteria.

In response, the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, said that “under no circumstances” can a second, civil marriage “be considered lawful, and therefore reception of the sacraments is intrinsically impossible.”

Cardinal Müller has repeatedly instructed the German hierarchy that all Catholics are bound by the same immutable moral law, without exception, and each time has been rebuffed. Allowing the divorced and remarried to receive the Sacraments “would cause confusion among the faithful about the Church’s teaching about the indissolubility of marriage,” Müller has written. In response, the former head of the German conference, Robert Zollitsch, was quoted saying, “a prefect is not the pope,” implying that Müller’s opinion is irrelevant if Pope Francis does not back him.

...
...All of this has for years prompted commentators to predict that the Catholic Church in Germany is on an inevitable trajectory to schism, a formal split from the rest of the Catholic Church, like the one in the same country in the early 16th century that resulted in the Protestant Reformation. Marie Meaney wrote in 2013 in Crisis Magazine that the divide dates all the way back to 1968 and the German episcopal rejection of the Church’s teaching on contraception in Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae Vitae.

“Will there be a new schism in the German Church? Some say it has de facto already happened a long time ago without having been openly declared. That it won’t take much to occur is certain, for the German Church is to a great extent already Protestant in doctrine and spirit,” Meaney wrote.
​

Faithful Catholics can and should let the hare sit as far as whether or not to speak on these issues, as the Spirit leads them, but these issues are actively being debated around the world and we have a moral obligation to know and be willing to defend, with our lives if necessary, the Truths regarding marriage and the Holy Eucharist that are firmly grounded in Scripture and doctrine.

 

EWTN The World Over News 3/19/15 Pope Francis appoints 11 new consultants to Synod this coming Fall

 

http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1351011?eng=y

 

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/is-the-synod-secretariat-stacking-the-deck-again/

 

DOGMATIC Theology and a Progressive is a MAJIOR Contradiction! WOW! Dogmatic Theology was mostly taught pre Vatican 2 in seminaries and is very solid.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin- is the inventor of transitional life forms to support the theory of Evolution . Pierre made pictures showing each stage of mans growth thru evolution but could NEVER prove these claims by the fosil record. The fosil record to date is silent!
Peter HOLDS the KEY, Come HOLY SPIRIT!

Professor Maurizio Gronchi’s “progressive” leanings are well known. A consulter at the last synod who teaches dogmatic theology at the Pontifical Urbaniana University, he penned a long article for L’Osservatore Romano in December 2013 that aimed to rehabilitate the thinking of the French Jesuit philosopher, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/is-the-synod-secretariat-stacking-the-deck-again/#ixzz3Uy6nycxd

 

Worth watching the whole video, Bishop Molino dicusses Why the new Cardinals around 4:50 minutes the Bishop talks about Doctrine/Discipline and the Synod.....Bishop Molino took over Cardinal Burkes SEE in Madison I believe

 

I agree Brian ,no one can change these teachings.
So whats the point to these Synods?
Why were people asked for their opinions?
Why discuss what cannot change?
Is Church discipline to be determined by the majority of wayward Catholics? View attachment 2752

 

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/p...-communion-for-divorced-and-remarried-catholi

 

Thats a good article Garabandal.
Will all those who warn against reading news articles step up now and warn us this might not be true?

 

A question.
We are all familiar with ...'God hates the sin but loves the sinner'



Scripture ...
Ecclesiasticus Chapter 12

12:3. For there is no good for him that is always occupied in evil, and that giveth no alms: for the Highest hateth sinners, and hath mercy on the penitent.



St Paul quotes the book of Malachi

As it is written: Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.

4What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? God forbid. 15For he saith to Moses: I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy; and I will shew mercy to whom I will shew mercy. 16So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. 17For the scripture saith to Pharao: To this purpose have I raised thee, that I may shew my power in thee, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. 18Therefore he hath mercy on whom he will; and whom he will, he hardeneth.


So does God hate the sinner?

 

Considering that God became man for the sinner, to walk with the sinner, to talk with the sinner to dine and heal the sinner and finally to die for the sinner, I think with can objectively conclude that, no Mac, God does not hate the sinner until his last breath and beat of his heart when God judges the unrepentant sinner to everlasting hell.

 

Mac, it seems clear to me that the synod is clearly seperating the sheep from the goats, airing out the dirty laundry so to speak. I think it is also providing an opportunity to show mercy towards those who have issues being discussed at the synod. While no doubt the massive dissension of Humane Vitae led to much confusion in the Church, starting with the clergy, it also led to much confusion with the lay people in area of human sexuality. Pope Paul's wittings in Humane Vitae may be some of the most prophectic statements by a pope in recent history when it speaks of the future of how women and marriage would be viewed if contraception would advance. Pope Francis seems to me to allowing all to openly speak their minds and when it is all through he will speak the mind of God in this matter on a world stage. No one at that point will have any doubt as to where the Church of God stands on these issues at the conclusion of the upcoming synod. But....but then the Church faithful will be heavily persecuted. Then the Church will become very small as Cardinal Ratzinger foretold.

 

This is a good development. Here's a salient comment from Fr. Zuhlzdorf's post on the subject:

I read the interview that Magister cites and in it Pope Francis clearly is trying to tamp down the expectations of the Kaspar camp. Austen Ivereigh, who probably knows more about Pope Francis than anyone else in the English speaking world, has opined that it would be a mistake to assume that Pope Francis favors the Kaspar position concerning communion for the divorced and civilly remarried.

My hunch is that Pope Francis has taken stock of the political strength of the Kaspar camp and has concluded that it is not sufficiently strong to “push the envelope” very far. The talk of schism may well have had an impact.

The faithful need to keep pushing to make evident the clear sense of the faithful on this matter. There is a long way to go.​

I agree completely with that last line.

​

 

My thinking as well. Pope Francis has already shown his hatred for all the gossip and back biting. He wants the bishops to be real men as well as brothers and confront each other openly in order to establish the lines of who wants control of what. Even Pope JPII wanted to get rid of a lot of "underground" apostates but understood that his entire papacy was to be one of Mercy over and beyond what he personally would have chosen to do. Our dear current Pope is opening the other equal balance.....of justice. He's also possibly establishing just who is in union with Peter....esp. for the necessary Consecration. The treatment towards the others may force the open apostasy. We're still seeing the little "factional" leaders continuing to hold on to their loyal personal constituents as if they're little popes...and doing so with subtle, behind the scene moves attempting to influence others. Then "the Lord of the World" may have his willing "religious" "false prophet" to aid him in "religiously" legitimizing his control.

 

Thats how Ive always understood things too Fatima Just having a bizarre conversation with a friend who is trying to show me otherwise.

 

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/b...-on-communion-for-the-divorced-and-remarried/
Four times the Church has held her ground on communion for the divorced and remarried
04.10.15 by Mary Rezac

The argument that divorced and civilly remarried Catholics (lacking annulments) be allowed to receive the Eucharist is kind of like 40+ year-old, re-heated mashed potatoes: it’s been spit out by the authority of Church time and again, but for some reason keeps appearing on the spoon of stubborn theologians and bishops who keep trying to trick us into eating it by making cutesie airplane noises.

In an essay for Communio entitled “The Merciful Gift Of Indissolubility and the Question Of Pastoral Care For Civilly Divorced And Remarried Catholics”, Nicholas J. Healy, JR. traces the history of this argument, as well as four of the main times the Church has lovingly but resoundingly shut it down. I’ve listed my findings from the document below in order to provide some context for this issue that’s sure to arise once again at the October 2015 Synod on the Family.


1. 1965 and Vatican II:The argument for allowing communion in certain circumstances to divorced and remarried Catholics can be traced back, at least in recent history, to the fourth session of the Second Vatican Council. Archbishop Elias Zoghby, the patriarchal vicar of the Melkites in Egypt, proposed that the Eastern practice of tolerating remarriage in certain cases should be considered. Even though Zobhby triggered a swift and negative response, dissenters still use this instance as an example in their favor.

Shut it down: At the request of Pope Paul VI, all normal activities of the Council were suspended until the proposal was addressed. Cardinal Journet was asked by the Pope to respond to Zoghby, and citing Mk 10:2 and 1 Cor 7:10–11, he concluded that “the teaching of the Catholic Church on the indissolubility of sacramental marriage is the very teaching of the Lord Jesus that has been revealed to us and has always been safeguarded and proclaimed in the Church . . . the Church has no authority to change what is of divine law.”


Shut it down.

2. 1970s: Despite the Church’s response at the Second Vatican Council, the 1970s saw a barrage of publications from Catholic theologians and bishops advocating for a change in Church teaching, particularly in the United States and in Germany. In 1972, a study committee commissioned by the Catholic Theological Society of America issued an “Interim Pastoral Statement” on “The Problem of Second Marriages,” arguing that not only should the divorced and remarried be admitted back to the sacraments, but that the Church needed to rethink and redefine the very ideas of consummation and indissolubility. That same year in Germany, several prominent bishops and theologians such as Schnackenburg, Ratzinger*, Lehmann, and Böckle wrote volumes on the matter, arguing for leniency in certain circumstances similar to practices in the Orthodox Church (called oikonomia, which roughly translates to “stewardship” or “management of a household”).

*Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, officially retracted his support of communion for the divorced and remarried in a letter published in The Tablet in 1991, and has several times since voiced his support for Church teaching as expressed in “Familiaris Consortio”.

Shut it down: The Church holds a Synod on the Family in 1980, as divorces were on the rise throughout the world. The result of the 1980 Synod was Pope John Paul II’s 1981 apostolic exhortation “Familiaris Consortio” (roughly, “Of Family Partnership”), which contains beautiful reflections on the role of the family in God’s divine plan, and specifically includes a section about irregular situations. Addressing the situation of the divorced and civilly remarried, Pope John Paul II says the following:

Together with the Synod, I earnestly call upon pastors and the whole community of the faithful to help the divorced, and with solicitous care to make sure that they do not consider themselves as separated from the Church, for as baptized persons they can, and indeed must, share in her life. They should be encouraged to listen to the word of God, to attend the Sacrifice of the Mass, to persevere in prayer, to contribute to works of charity and to community efforts in favor of justice, to bring up their children in the Christian faith, to cultivate the spirit and practice of penance and thus implore, day by day, God’s grace. Let the Church pray for them, encourage them and show herself a merciful mother, and thus sustain them in faith and hope.

However, the Church reaffirms her practice, which is based upon Sacred Scripture, of not admitting to Eucharistic Communion divorced persons who have remarried. They are unable to be admitted thereto from the fact that their state and condition of life objectively contradict that union of love between Christ and the Church which is signified and effected by the Eucharist. Besides this, there is another special pastoral reason: if these people were admitted to the Eucharist, the faithful would be led into error and confusion regarding the Church’s teaching about the indissolubility of marriage.


Shut it down.

3. 1993: Three prominent German bishops, Oskar Saier, Walter Kasper, and Karl Lehmann, publish a letter on pastoral care for the divorced and remarried, essentially saying that while what Pope John Paul II said in Familiaris Consortio is very nice and generally true, it can’t possibly apply to every difficult situation that arises. These bishops then proposed their own guide for divorced and remarried Catholics to determine their worthiness for the sacraments, as guided by a pastor. There were three conditions the German bishops laid out for the possibility of communion: the individuals should be repentant for the failure of the first marriage; the second civil marriage has to “prove itself over time as stable”; and the “commitments assumed in the second marriage have to be accepted.” Under these conditions, the bishops argued, civilly remarried people could in good conscience receive the Eucharist without the need to live continently.

Shut it down: In 1994, The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued an indirect response to the German bishops in the “Letter Concerning Communion”, which said church teaching “cannot be modified for difficult situations.” While it never mentioned the letter from the German bishops, it was clearly written in response to it. The Congregation’s letter cited passages from Scripture, Familiaris Consortio, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church to support Church teaching, and addressed false notions of conscience that would allow individuals to determine for themselves whether or not their first marriage was valid.




Shut it down.

con't

 

con't

4. 1994-2005: Literature published by various bishops and theologians still showed a tendency to stray from Pope John Paul II’s teaching in “Familiaris Consortio”, leading the Church to call for a Synod on the Eucharist in 2005, during which the issue was studied and addressed extensively.

Shut it down: Pope Benedict XVI issued a post-Synod apostolic exhortation called “Sacramentum Caritatis”, in which he confirmed Church doctrine and practice. He also called for a deeper theological understanding of the relationship between the sacrament of marriage and the sacrament of the Eucharist, and asked for better pastoral efforts in the area of marriage preparation for young people.


Shut it down. (Credit: Alan Holdren/Catholic News Agency)

There are two important things to remember when considering this issue. The first is that the pain and separation felt by divorced and remarried Catholics is real, and the exhortation of the recent Popes to reach out to these people in the Church should be taken seriously by clergy and lay faithful alike. The second thing to remember is that while the pain of the divorced and remarried is a serious issue, it is not the only important and pressing issue in the Church at the moment, with thousands of Christians fleeing their homes or being slaughtered at the hands of Islamic extremists both in the Middle East and Africa.

Still, because the issue continues to arise, the Synod Fathers will address it at the Synod on the Family later this year, and Pope Francis will write an apostolic exhortation on the matter some time after that. Let us continue to pray for all in Church leadership, and that those in authority have the courage to trust that the Holy Spirit will shut it down, as he has always done when erroneous proposals threaten Church doctrine and unity.

 

Divorced/Remarried: An Update
http://www.thecatholicthing.org/2015/04/25/divorcedremarried-an-update/
Posted By Fr. Gerald E. Murray On Saturday, April 25 2015 @ 12:01 am

Two recent interviews with prominent Cardinals have advanced efforts to derail Cardinal Walter Kasper’s proposal that Holy Communion be given to people in invalid “second” marriages. Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, Archbishop of Bologna, spoke to Il Foglio. Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, gave a lengthy interview [1] to the French Catholic weekly Famille Chrétienne. Both made clear that there can be no change in sacramental discipline without, in effect, denying the indissolubility of marriage.

If Holy Communion could be legitimately given to the invalidly remarried (Kasper’s proposal), the Church would no longer consider them bound to the exclusive and lifelong fidelity inherent in Christ’s own intentions for marriage. The “first” marriage would somehow have to disappear in order for its obligations likewise to disappear. The only possible alternative would be to designate “second” marriages as “legitimate and authorized adultery,” which I doubt even Cardinal Kasper would be willing to do.

But if the Church were ever to say after the October Synod that, while reaffirming the indissolubility of marriage, an exception could allow some divorced and “remarried” Catholics to receive Communion, the average parishioner would say: “The Catholic Church either no longer believes that marriage is indissoluble, or it no longer believes that adultery is gravely sinful.”

Caffarra states clearly that this debate is not merely a merciful scaling back of unrealistic expectations imposed on the flock, who sometimes find themselves in unhappy “first” marriages. The essence of marriage is at stake: “When I speak of the truth of marriage I do not mean some sort of normative ideal. I mean, rather, the truth that God in his creative act has inscribed upon the person of every man and woman. Christ teaches us that before considering particular cases, we must know what it is we are talking about. Here we are not talking simply about a norm that may or may not admit of exceptions, nor of an ideal after which we strive. We are talking about the very essence of marriage and the family.”

[2]
Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, Archbishop of Bologna

He continues: “The indissolubility of marriage is a gift that is given by Christ . . .Above all it is a gift, not a norm that is imposed. It is not an ideal after which they have to strive. It is a gift from God who never reneges on his gifts. It is not by accident that Jesus founds his revolutionary response to the Pharisees on a divine act: ‘That which God has united,’ he says. It is God who unites, otherwise the definitively binding nature of the act would rest upon a desire that is yes, natural, but also impossible to achieve. God himself gives the completion of the act.”

Müller echoes Caffarra’s words: “we should underline that it is not correct or sufficient to present the indissolubility of marriage as an ideal, a law, a ‘value’. Marriage is before all else a sacrament, an efficacious sign that communicates grace. Through it, God constitutes a new reality, the matrimonial bond.”

Müller goes further: “Christian doctrine is not a theory about reality, but rather revealed truth. . . .Thus there is no distinction to be established between doctrine and pastoral practice. We are not saved in Jesus Christ by a theory; rather we participate in the grace, in the life of God. We should live in the new reality, accepting the Cross, and the concrete difficulties that go with it, throughout our life.”

Caffarra also addresses Kasper’s suggestion that the invalidly remarried undergo a period of penance before being admitted to Holy Communion: “The Church forgives but the condition of this forgiveness is repentance. But repentance in this case involves returning to the first marriage. It isn’t sincere to say: ‘Although I repent, I choose to maintain that state which in itself constitutes the breaking of the bond, of whose breaking I repent.’”

For Caffarra, a simple question remains: “Those who make these suggestions have not, at least up until now, answered one simple question: what happens to the first valid and consummated marriage? If the Church admits them to the Eucharist, she must render a judgment on the legitimacy of the second marriage. It’s logical. But. . .what about the first marriage? The second marriage, if we can call it that, cannot be a true second marriage because bigamy is against the teaching of Christ. So the first marriage, is it dissolved? But all the popes have always taught that the pope has no authority over this. The pope does not have the power to dissolve a valid and consummated marriage. The proposed solution seems to imply that although the first marriage continues, the Church can somehow legitimate a second relationship. But. . .the proposal demolishes the foundations of the Church’s teaching on sexuality.”

[3]
Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Müller calls on the Church to remain faithful to Christ’s clear teaching: “We must be obedient to the word of Jesus Himself. When he was asked if it were permitted for a man to repudiate his wife, Jesus replied: No! ‘If a man divorces his wife and marries another, he commits adultery.’ When people encounter difficulties, they should do everything they can to overcome them, seeking to become like Christ crucified, who rises from the dead on Easter. They should seek help and support in their efforts. But we cannot say that our pastoral practice should improve on that of Jesus Himself!”

Meller stresses that Catholic doctrine and discipline form a necessary unity: “The discipline of the sacraments is the expression of the doctrine of the Faith. These are not two different domains. One cannot affirm a doctrine and then initiate a practice that would be contrary to the doctrine.”

Clearly, defenders of indissolubility have both Revelation and logic on their side. The notion that a divorced and invalidly re-married Catholic can simply excuse himself from fidelity to his marriage vows, undergo some public penance similar to that practiced in the early Church, and then present himself for Holy Communion is offensive to the very words of the Incarnate God. It cannot be otherwise – the clear teaching of Christ is being cast aside in the name of a pseudo-reconciliation.

The Church takes a Catholic at his word when he makes his vows, freely and knowingly, at his wedding. The Church must likewise call him to lifelong faithfulness to that vow, for the marriage vows bring into existence a permanent union that is joined together by God. In no way can the Church “erase the tape” on someone’s marital history and then pretend to take him as his word when he makes his wedding vows a second time. Marriage either is what Christ taught us it is, or it means whatever you want it to mean. The Kasper proposal is a deathblow to the integrity of the Christian understanding not only of marriage, but of reality itself. Caffarra and Müller understand exactly what is going on here.

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About Fr. Gerald E. Murray
The Rev. Gerald E. Murray, J.C.D. is pastor of Holy Family Church, New York, NY, and a canon lawyer.

• Divorced/Remarried: An Update [6] - Saturday, April 25 2015