Posted on 03/01/2016 9:19:57 AM PST by ebb tide
On 27 October, shortly after the end of the controversial Synod of Bishops on the Family, I reported on the important role which the German-speaking language group had played in finding a supposed compromise between the Kasper and the Mueller camp, Cardinal Walter Kasper being in favor of the admittance of the "remarried" divorcees to Holy Communion, Cardinal Gerhard Müller - head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - being a defender of the traditional teaching of the Church. The compromise had found its way into the final report of the Synod, namely into paragraph 84-85 which Cardinal Raymond Burke afterwards criticized for its ambiguity. According to Edward Pentin:
He [Cardinal Burke] focuses on paragraphs 84-86 on divorce and remarriage, saying this section is of "immediate concern because of its lack of clarity in a fundamental matter of the faith: the indissolubility of the marriage bond which both reason and faith teach all men." He also says the way the quotation from Familaris Consortio is used is "misleading."
Due to this ambiguity, I had then called upon Cardinal Müller to clarify his position and his role during the Synod in order to avoid misunderstandings which would have grave effects:
Only the future will show whether or how Pope Francis will make a progressive use of this little crack in order to open up a "penitential path" for "remarried" divorcees so that some of them may also receive Holy Communion. After the statements of Cardinals Marx and Kasper, much will also depend upon Cardinal Müller himself who, we hope, will soon make his own statement and clarification of how he himself understood and still understands the two paragraphs 85 and 86 of the Synod's Final Report.
While visiting the German city Cologne, Cardinal Müller finally made that long-awaited statement. First, on Febrary 27, the radio station of the Diocese of Cologne, Domradio.de, published an interview with Cardinal Müller in which he stated that "the teaching of the Church is not my property, it is given to us" and that "it is our task also to speak clearly of the teaching of the Church, of the dogma of what God has revealed to us." He continued that the indissolubility of marriage is a dogma and that "there cannot be a second marriage." Müller also asked: "How could we make a compromise with the Word of God?" One cannot work out a compromise on sociological terms, said Müller. He added: "I cannot go along with this."
In an interview of 28 February, Cardinal Müller became even more explicit. He said that with the clear Word of God concerning marriage, one "cannot make a compromise, with which we men would turn the clear Word of God into something vague." When the newspaper Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger with regard to the question of the admittance of "remarried" divorcees to Holy Communion pointed out that the German-speaking group at the 2015 Synod - with his approval - had considered the admittance of the "remarried" divorcees to Holy Communion, Mueller said:
When the spouses - as Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Exhortation "Familiaris Consortio" (1981) reminded us of the always valid Catholic teaching on marriage - "live together as brother and sister." [...] But the Church has no possibility to dissolve or suspend a validly contracted and true sacramental marriage.
When presented with the argument of the progressive Catholic Cardinal Reinhard Marx that such a solution - to live as brother and sister - is impossible, Müller responded:
That is also what the Apostles were thinking when Jesus explained to them the indissolubility of marriage (see Matthew 19:10). But what seems to us humans to be impossible, is possible with the Grace of God.
With this statement, Cardinal Müller corrects any speculation that he would support the idea that "remarried" divorcees could live in a sinful relationship and at the same time could receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion. With this statement, the crack in the door has been closed again by the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
When the spouses – as Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Exhortation “Familiaris Consortio” (1981) reminded us of the always valid Catholic teaching on marriage – “live together as brother and sister.” […] But the Church has no possibility to dissolve or suspend a validly contracted and true sacramental marriage.
Hopefully, Cardinal Muller’s recent declaration will thwart Francis’ evil intentions in his soon to be released post-synodal apostolic exhortation.
Either marriage is what the church has believed for millennia - a permanent union between one man and one woman as Jesus defined it - or it isn’t. And if marriage isn’t as the Bible defined it then how can the Church claim that same-sex marriage isn’t valid? And if Jesus was wrong in his teachings on marriage then where else will the Church decide He was wrong?
Are you Catholic? This is a caucus thread.
Yes.
Super logic - except it doesn’t work that way for 99% of the real world - shacking up ends relationships. Marrying later ends the relationship too. You get together in a different mode of thinking when you do that, most often.
Sure, there are deathbed confessions, but I would not rely on having time to say it, having a priest within earshot to say it to.
But I am not a gambling man. Do you feel lucky? Lots of guys in jail did too - and their recidivism rate suggests they learn slowly.
But we still preach to the shacking up - there is mercy, there is change....for the ignorant, but not so much the cynically ‘wise’.
Find her, help her get to heaven and get you to heaven - not just the sex and kids you know.
Well we can do all that, and accept that our Catholic faith means nothing to us. Or we can adapt to the times and accept the modern definition of marriage as a temporary relationship between a man and a woman that lasts until someone better comes along. Or we can continue to follow the scriptures and abide by the teachings of Jesus Christ and recognize marriage as what he said it is. My vote as a Catholic is for number three.
My grandmother and grandfather were married for over 25 years, had 4 children, divorced for a few years, and re-married to each other for another 10 years or so and divorced again...
Grandfather was able to get an annulment from the Church, which of course in the eyes of the Church says the marriage was never legitimate... which of course is nonsense.
I love my Grandfather, and am grateful to God daily I was fortunate enough to have him as part of my life for as long as I did, but if his case isn’t an example of how screwed up the Catholic practices are around divorce are, nothing is.
Best book EVER on how dreadful the annulment policy is.
http://www.amazon.com/Shattered-Faith-Struggle-Catholic-Annulling/dp/0805058281
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Wow, same story with my inlaws. Although, they did remarry other people in the end. No annulment until my FIL was practically on his deathbed and thought he could fool God by rushing an annulment but secretly stayed with his last wife. Told her it was so the Catholic Church could get him into heaven. What a fool he was.
My Grandfather did remarry years after their second divorce.
Anyway, forgive me if I scoff at the church and its policies around divorce.
Treating divorce as though it is an unforgivable sin is to deny the very grace of God and failing of man.
My MIL in remarried as well and attends a Christian church. Makes me wonder if she will suddenly go for the annulment at the end of her days. OY. Such a sham. It’s a power play and a $$ maker for the Catholic church to withhold communion. Jesus was speaking to a table full of sinners at the Last Supper telling them to do this in REMEMBRANCE yet the CC uses this simple command for punishment against it’s flock. Or else.
Well the whole witholding of communion thing is kind of a joke as well... you are asked not to partake, but in my entire life I have never seen anyone denied communion.
I did once see a priest chase down and take a communion wafer back from someone after there had been several instances of finding them on the floor of the church... When this guy didn’t take his immediately the priest chased him back to his seat and forcibly removed the wafer from his hand.
However, the Church asks you to not partake, and I am not saying no priest has ever refused to give communion, but I sure haven’t ever seen it.
Well the whole witholding of communion thing is kind of a joke as well... you are asked not to partake, but in my entire life I have never seen anyone denied communion.
I did once see a priest chase down and take a communion wafer back from someone after there had been several instances of finding them on the floor of the church... When this guy didn’t take his immediately the priest chased him back to his seat and forcibly removed the wafer from his hand.
However, the Church asks you to not partake, and I am not saying no priest has ever refused to give communion, but I sure haven’t ever seen it.
I went to a Christmas service in college at a Catholic Church. Little Prot girl ME walked right up and took communion and no one stopped or asked either!
No one will, they ask you don’t, but their is no visible outward sign that you are a practicing catholic or not.
I feel blessed. That said, my personal faith and belief is that God knows what is in your heart, irrespective of what you say on your deathbed. I agree with your characterization of the ‘cynically wise’. You can't manipulate your way to a spiritual soul, you have to do the work and make the sacrifices.
I personally don't believe there is a specific ‘formula’ for salvation outside of the very fundamental call from God to have a good heart, sacrifice yourself without expectation of reward, love without expectation or requirement of being loved back, and have the humility to know and admit you are flawed and ask forgiveness for those times you fail to do what you should. That said, I do not believe that a person who isn't committed at some level to try to grow spiritually and be a better person is benefiting all that much by going into a confessional weekly as a mechanical act of ritualistic religion. Faith and ritual are very different, at least to me.
IMHO, one of the things Christ made abundantly clear while walking as a man in the world was that our relationship to God is much, much more than the specific mechanics of religion and religious doctrine. He did a lot of things that kind of flew in the face of the Rabbinical leaders, but never did anything that flew in the face of God - although the Rabbinical leaders tried to say he did.
That doesn't mean I don't have respect for the pillars of Christian faith or the tenets of Catholicism, nor does it mean that I feel that I can just make up a faith and my version of Christianity and of being a Catholic in a way that is ‘comfortable’ for me. Personally, every minute I live I see more clearly how hard the path is to being a good human being in the way that God wants. That said, I don't back off of the comments about hypocrisy in the Church. There's a church, and a Church, and the church has all the flaws that one would expect of something run by human beings.
Incidentally, I would rather spend my life alone than ‘shack up’ with someone, because it just doesn't appeal to me, and I agree that it can ruin relationships before they have a chance to grow into mature meaningful loving relationships. I don't judge those who do this, however. I don't know them, or their hearts. I think divorce is one of the most destructive things that can happen in anyones life, not because it means God is going to ‘punish you’ or is not going to take you into heaven, but because if it began based in love, it is a huge loss to both people, and it will hurt them (consciously or not) throughout the rest of their lives.
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