Ping!
Should they wear a big "A" on their forehead so the priests knows to pass them by.
Sorry....I believe the church is wrong in the matter. If you wish to go to communion, do it.
“Is there growing confusion ...”?
I don’t think so. There’s ignorance, but that’s easily remedied by reading the Catechism. There’s discussion, but this need not generate “confusion” if one has read the Catechism. There’s rejection, but it’s disingenuous to pretend one doesn’t understand what one chooses to reject.
One of the most tragic divisions within Christianity is the one between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches. Both have valid holy orders and apostolic succession through the episcopacy, both celebrate the same sacraments, both believe almost exactly the same theology, and both proclaim the same faith in Christ. from "Eastern Orthodoxy" Catholic Answers
With the Orthodox Churches, this communion is so profound "that it lacks little to attain the fullness that would permit a common celebration of the Lord's Eucharist" (Paul VI, Discourse, 14 December 1975; cf. Unitatis redintegratio 13-18). Catechism of the Catholic Church 838
'Who am I to judge?'
Not according to the Nancy Pelosis and other famous "catholic leaders" of our time.
Their teachings on matters of Catholic doctrine are widely distributed throughout pop culture and fairly well known these days.
I have been divorced and remarried and I do not go to communion.
1 Cor 11
26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
bumpus ad summum
This strikes me as another example of what first disillusioned me when I returned to the Church.
I had a fantasy (and it is a fantasy) in my mind that everyone believed the exact same thing and not only that, but also behaved and thought the exact same way.
To the consternation of myself at the time (and still a point of scandal for many today, Protestant and Catholic alike) I discovered through examples like this, it is not so: surprise surprise different people behave and think, well, differently.
I assert here briefly that this has always been how the Church was and is. There are different opinions, fights squabbles, and the like all throughout Church history. It’s not a monolithic lock-step organization. It’s human. Not based on human effort or idea, but colored and influenced by humanity. Big difference.
Here is no different. Had Father Tarcisio left out the portion in the parentheses, there would have been no issue. The only issue his bishop had was with his example.
So it’s a personal preference thing. I don’t see his bishop disagreeing with the teaching per se rather his example. If he had used an example of say, pornography or lying, maybe his bishop wouldn’t have objected. Myself I was a bit shocked to even be discussing “murder” in relation to co-habitation at all, even to demonstrate a difference.
We are Catholics, and I know both are mortal sins, but really, co-habitation is just as serious a sin as murder?
Whether or not one agrees with this impression of the analogy or not is irrelevant. We must try to see what the other is saying (the bishop didn’t do this). Just because he didn’t though, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to see what he (the bishop) is saying either.
This is how it is. This is what must be done. This is both our problem as humans and what we are called to do. We must try to see the other in as charitable a light as possible.
Is there a history of this bishop rejecting Church teaching? If not, this is probably another example of what can be disillusioning but isn’t. It isn’t, if we just see it as a different person preferring a different way of saying (or doing) things. A different way that ultimately has no difference. Just personal preference.