Pope Francis calls for flexibility, patience as he opens talks on church teaching

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Francis on Thursday (Feb. 20) opened a major two-day meeting on the church’s approach to the complexities of modern family life, telling the world’s Catholic cardinals that the church needs a “pastoral” approach that is “intelligent, courageous and full of love” and not focused on abstract arguments.

In brief introductory remarks released by the Vatican, Francis pushed the closed-door summit of about 150 cardinals to “deepen the theology of the family and discern the pastoral practices which our present situation requires.”

He asked that they do so “thoughtfully” and by keeping the focus on “the beauty of family and marriage” while at the same time showing that the church is ready to help spouses “amid so many difficulties.” Francis added the phrase “intelligent, courageous and full of love” extemporaneously.

Francis summoned the cardinals to Rome for a weekend of ceremonies at which the pope will appoint his first batch of 19 “princes of the church,” as cardinals are often called.

But he asked them to arrive early so that they could spend time discussing one of Francis’ signature themes: shifting the church’s approach on controversial topics like divorce and remarriage, cohabitation, gay marriage and contraception.

Those issues will also be the focus of two larger and longer meetings of bishops at the Vatican this fall and in 2015.

“The pope has opened a dialogue, he’s not decided anything yet and now he’ll let us discuss,” Cardinal Walter Kasper, a German theologian who is a favorite of Francis, told Reuters on Thursday.

Kasper said the talks were not about changing doctrine or watering down traditional marriage — “that’s not possible,” he said. But “it’s a question of how to apply (church teaching to) the concrete, difficult, complex situation.”

Francis tapped Kasper to open the meetings with an address that would set the stage for the talks. Kasper — a onetime sparring partner of another German cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Benedict XVI — delivered a two-hour talk that centered on marriage and took up most of the morning’s session.

Kasper has pushed for relaxing the ban against Communion for Catholics who have divorced and remarried without an annulment; as a bishop in Germany in the 1990s, he tried to institute a policy that would allow divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion in certain circumstances. The plan was rejected by the Vatican’s doctrinal office, then headed by Ratzinger.

In his talk on Thursday, Kasper did not offer any specific proposals, but repeatedly stressed the importance of pastoral flexibility and realism in dealing with people in challenging or unusual family situations.

The Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican’s chief spokesman, said Kasper’s talk would remain private but he provided reporters with an overview of the address.

“Our efforts are not about restating that the doctrine of the church is thus and so,” Lombardi said in summarizing Kasper’s remarks. “Our efforts are about returning to the beginning of the doctrine itself, which is the gospel.”

Lombardi described Kasper’s talk as “in great harmony” with Francis’ views, stressing the importance of accompanying people in difficult circumstances and the need for patience in helping them.

Even before he was elected pope last March, Francis — then Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires — blasted priests who “hijacked” the sacraments and refused to baptize the children of unwed mothers. He called such clerics “hypocrites” who “drive God’s people away from salvation.”

After his election, Francis continued to make the point, telling a pregnant single woman that he would baptize her baby if she couldn’t find another priest to do it, and baptizing — in the storied Sistine Chapel — the baby of a couple who were married civilly but not in the church.

In other venues Francis has also repeatedly stressed the priority of preaching God’s mercy rather than focusing on the details of doctrine and church rules. That, in turn, has led some to wonder if he was signaling a possible change in some teachings.

But Vatican insiders say the pope prefers to try to change the church’s approach rather than start a civil war over doctrine that would distract from the church’s mission to the poor and marginalized.

That doesn’t mean the shift toward mercy and away from finger-wagging is sitting well with all church leaders. Disagreements were expected as each of the cardinals gets a chance to weigh in with their own views.

“Everybody will have a chance to yell about something,” one cardinal quipped after the first day’s sessions.

“...By making such a concession to the Hungarian government, Paul VI employed the authority conferred by Our Lord Jesus Christ on Saint Peter, in order to force the Cardinal not to oppose the plans of Communist imperialism. The keys of Peter functioning according to the desires of implacable atheist persecutors of religion: What is this, if not a bomb, probably the greatest bomb in the History of the Church, from Pentecost up to our day?...

(5) The worst was yet to come. Sometime later, Paul VI wrote to Cardinal Mindszenty, asking him to resign from his Archdiocese. The Cardinal refused. Paul VI deposed him. And then, a particularly bitter touch; the letter was handed over to the Cardinal precisely on the day that he was commemorating the 25th anniversary of his glorious imprisonment by the Communists.

The drama was ended. All during its course, from the beginning to the end, the conduct of the Vicar of Christ was what Communist imperialism desired, that is, what the antichrist desired.”

http://www.tfp.org/tfp-home/plinio-correa-de-oliveira/whatever-budapest-wants.html

The USA annulment process HAS no integrity.

Wouldn't it be convenient if we could apply the same excuses used for obtaining annulments to also escape other contracts that prove burdensome over the long haul? How can anyone who possesses the ability to understand basic language (i.e. the wedding vows), and who is mentally capable of engaging in other contracts (e.g. car loan, library card, gym membership agreement) claim not to understand that they were agreeing to forge a bond that the Church (and the broader society) considers permanent? Obviously coercion or mental incompetence would be reasonable grounds, but some of the other excuses are simply rationalizations for revising history.

There’s a whole industry that will teach you how to get an annulment, and many clergy and religious are active participants.

Look, I think the bishops in annulment-rich nations, with USA #1, hate the fact that anyone who says the right words and who isn’t going to cause a scandal gets one. They just don’t know how to stop.

And, I suspect, that Rome agrees that there is no way to stop but that Rome would also like to stop the constant subornation of perjury that the staff of the annulment machine procures, every day.

So, I think the EO “sacramental economy” solution is the only way out. It may be that a quickie annulment process will be put in place for a few years.

But if tens of thousands of divorced and remarried Catholics (many of whom are heads of families with children) can be allowed to stop the lying (”I didn’t really intend matrimony the first time” is most popular), I think the bishops will see it as a win.

Agreed. I may be wrong in continuing to mention this, but I believe that the two lightning strikes on the Vatican immediately following Benedict’s resignation, along with the earthquake that Castel Gandolfo when he went up there afterwards, are indications of things to come.

In January, the Pope went to the window overlooking Vatican square. Two children released white doves, symbols of peace, which were promptly attacked by a seagull and a black crow.

http://www.cathnewsusa.com/2014/01/doves-released-vatican-attacked-seagull-crow/

I believe more signs will manifest themselves shortly; I am particularly looking at the day in April when the canonization of John XXIII will take place (along with Pope John Paul II).

As I have mentioned elsewhere, John XXIII HAS NOT had the required miracles attested to his intercession. Francis is going ahead with this on his own.

Trouble ahead.

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