Posted on 10/05/2014 6:15:40 AM PDT by marshmallow
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The author of a controversial proposal to make it easier for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion says he believes Pope Francis backs the measure but would not apply it without support from bishops at two upcoming synods on the family.
"I had the impression the pope is open for a responsible, limited opening of the situation, but he wants a great majority of the bishops behind himself. He does not like division within the church and the collegiality of bishops," German Cardinal Walter Kasper, speaking English, told Catholic News Service Oct. 1. "I have the impression the pope is ready to reaffirm such a thing, but now it depends also on the voices of the bishops in the synod."
By church law, divorced and civilly remarried Catholics are not admitted to Communion unless they obtain an annulment of their first, sacramental marriages or abstain from sexual relations with their new partners, living together as "brother and sister."
Pope Francis has said the predicament of such Catholics exemplifies a general need for mercy in the church today. He invited Cardinal Kasper to address the world's cardinals at the Vatican in February, when the cardinal argued that, in certain cases, the church can "tolerate something that, in itself, is unacceptable": a couple living together as husband and wife in a second union.
"I spoke beforehand with the pope himself; otherwise I would not have touched this problem in my conference. The pope encouraged me as a question," the cardinal said.
That question is sure to be one of the most discussed at the Oct. 5-19 extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family, which will prepare the agenda for a larger world synod in October 2015. The later gathering will make recommendations to the pope, who.........
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnews.com ...
I believe Cdl. Kasper is delusional.
If Kaspar were an American he would make a good chairman of the Democrat Party.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the next pope.
He’s retired. Over the age of 80. So that ain’t happening. But if Francis starts letting remarried without an annulment receive communion he will considered a joke and Kaspar will be called his “brain”.
Unfortunately, Kasper seems to regard himself as the Pope’s official spokesman, and Pope Francis has done nothing to discourage this idea.
Why just a second? Why not a third, forth, or even fifth? Because "Ministers of the church must be ministers of mercy above all." The Church must not lock itself up in "small things, in small-minded rules".
We have allowed the Priesthood to harbor abusive homosexuals for years, they also celebrated Mass and handeled and served Holy Communion. Many are still in the church serving as priests.
We continue to punish divorced Catholics by prohibiting their reception on the Eucharist at mass.
Are we Crazy or what ????? How dare We stand in judgement of people Suffering without some one to show them a bit of Charity ,such as our Clergy. Shame on our “Leaders” in Our Catholic Church!!!
Little wonder we are losing parishinors through out the Church.
We have allowed the Priesthood to harbor abusive homosexuals for years, they also celebrated Mass and handeled and served Holy Communion. Many are still in the church serving as priests.
We continue to punish divorced Catholics by prohibiting their reception on the Eucharist at mass.
Are we Crazy or what ????? How dare We stand in judgement of people Suffering without some one to show them a bit of Charity ,such as our Clergy. Shame on our “Leaders” in Our Catholic Church!!!
Little wonder we are losing parishinors through out the Church.
In Kasper’s dreams . . .
If the Pope wants collegiality, why would he use the divisive Kasper as his spokesman?
Missing a sarc tag?
The people who are dreaming are those who believe that Francis is a Catholic in the mold of all of his predecessors. He isn’t. He was elected by the lavender mafia to protect their interests. Whether he’s a willing accomplice or an ignorant bumpkin is besides the point. Now, if the Holy Spirit is in charge, he will prevent Francis from declaring anything that is formally heretical, or against the tradition of the Church. However, there is something very unusual about this papacy. Was Benedict forced to resign? Were there irregularities in the conclave? We’ll find out soon enough. If Francis defies the Church’s teaching, it means he was either never legitimately elected, or he’s lost his office through heresy. Theologians such as Suarez and Bellarmine said it could happen.
Catholics need to wake up and realize that we may be living in the greatest crisis of the Papacy since the Western Schism.
I mean, read the Lives of the Saints. It's not infrequent for God to lay His hand on someone who was humiliated, someone who was "rusticated," somebody who was basically told by the Powers That Be to "Shut up," and raise him up to the highest level to save the Church.
If I were the gamin' type, my money would be saying: Burke.
It’s not just an opinion. He actually can’t.
Bishop Demetrio Fernandez of Cordoba, Spain said that during his ad limina visit to the Vatican earlier this year, the Holy Father told him that “the Pope cannot change” what Jesus Christ has instituted. “We asked the Pope himself, and he responded that a person married in the Church who has divorced and entered into a new civil marriage cannot approach the sacraments.” (Meaning, Holy Communion. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available.)
"We"?
Not the Church in terms of her doctrines and dogmas, canons and disciplines. Active Homosexual conduct is forbidden to all; and even men with this ongoing tendency are not to be seminarians, let alone ordained priests.
Deviation from this is deviation from that laws Christ gives us through His Church.
There has been way too much disregard of authentic Catholic laws, and sinning against authentic Catholic morality. But that is, I would argue, sinning "against" the Church, not "of" the Church.
Who knew?
You are dreaming if you think "all" of Francis' predecessors were of the same mold.
Anybody who has read the thinnest paperback on the Lives of Popes knows that Francis' 265 predecessors comprised an astonishing array of sinner as well as saints --- and by "sinners" I don't just mean personal carnal vice (sex, drugs 'n' rocknroll) or moneygrubbing (simony, embezzlement, "alienation of the Church's patrimony" = straight out theft), but also doctrinal deviations and even heresies. One or two denied the Immaculate Conception and, if I remember correctly, the Assumption. One or two even denied papal in fallibility
They did so, however, in ways that did not corrupt the doctrines of the Church. I mean that they expressed flapdoodle opinions in private letters, in non-Magisterial remarks, in local or temporary matters that did not put the whole Church under obedience to an error.
This is discouraging to some, inasmuch as they may have wished the popes were all-purpose oracles whose every opinion --- especially moral and theological ones --- were as straight-up as Polaris.
However, that is not the case and, alas, never has been.
An erroneously-minded pope can do a lot of harm, for sure. A LOT of harm. However --- a narrow but precious guarantee--- he will not be permitted to lead the whole Church into error.
Her's why: Enjoy! (LINK)
You know that :o)
Oh, of course he’s not going to address quite explicitly as that. But he can do it in much less obvious ways.
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