Posted on 06/16/2016 9:22:17 PM PDT by ebb tide
Pope Francis, spiritual leader of a billion people, has just informed them that ‘the great majority’ of sacramental marriages are invalid because couples don’t go into them with the right intentions. He was speaking at a press conference in Rome. Here’s the context, from the Catholic News Agency (my emphases):
‘I heard a bishop say some months ago that he met a boy that had finished his university studies, and said “I want to become a priest, but only for 10 years”. It’s the culture of the provisional. And this happens everywhere, also in priestly life, in religious life,’ he said.
‘It’s provisional, and because of this the great majority of our sacramental marriages are null. Because they say “yes, for the rest of my life!” but they don’t know what they are saying. Because they have a different culture. They say it, they have good will, but they don’t know.’
Uh? You can read the full report here but you won’t be much the wiser. The Pope, thinking aloud in the manner of some maverick parish priest after a couple of glasses of wine at dinner, has just told millions of his flock that they are not really married.
Did he mean to say that? What does he really think? What authority do his words carry?
And why should Catholics even have to ask these questions? Francis’s off-the-cuff ramblings on matters of extreme pastoral sensitivity are wreaking havoc in the Catholic Church, as I’ve written here.
Ross Douthat of the New York Times has just tweeted this response:
Screen Shot 2016-06-16 at 23.54.41
I suspect that even the Pope’s most liberal admirers will have difficulty extricating him from this mess.
Thanks for the link.
Francis, the talking mule.
Lombardi is going to have a busy week.
It's not be a particularly helpful thing to say for Catholicism in general, but it may very well be true.
Any young couple can go into marriage with intentions we don't know, and the priests are supposed to screen them these days.
Jesus never said anything about a marriage being invalid except "in the case of fornication/adultery". And he didn't put it in those exact terms with the word invalid, but the implication was the marriage was defective.
Oh he’s just being misunderstood once again.
Hohoho
If that is true zero “homosexual marriages” are valid.
If the Pope said “most sacramental marriages are invalid,” then he literally has no idea what he is talking about.
ALL valid marriages between two baptized people are the sacrament of Matrimony. NO invalid putative marriage is the sacrament of Matrimony.
Nothing the Pope says affects anyone’s marriage. Nothing the Pope says is evidence of anything except his own stupidity, and his hatred for the Catholic Church.
IMHO, the Pope’s statement does at least contain the seed of two important points...
1, there ARE a lot of people noWadays who seem unable to make serious (or long-term)commitments, and
2. the Church does have a really fine “product” (type, view on, character of) marriage... to “offer the market”
-—but many people seem to either not fully comprehend it...or seem unable to fully (or genuinely??) commit to it (and it does take both understanding and commitment)
IMHO, part of the problem is indeed the “provisional” or short sighted nature of much of the modern culture (agreeing here with the Pope) and
part of the solution may be that the Church could figure out how to communicate, explain its more-full-commitment type of marriage better (marriage as a permanent sort of sacramental relationship, not just a temporary experiment or secular “deal”)
I really think this is worth pursuing ... just don’t know how to advise it might be best achieved... ideas?
At least in James Joyce novels, the idiots had a habit of keeping their ruminations to themselves.
Ha!
1.my congratulations on your James Joyce expertise, I always had difficulty really grasping his writings welll
2. I can only suggest that the Holy Father does have a pastoral/teaching responsibility so his wearing a muzzle would not enable him to fully discharge his duties
but yes, I do share discomfort with at least the apparently too-all-inclusive sound of the reported statement...
and its a difficult topic to begin with....
so... understood! thanks.
best, fhc
I don’t know how you impeach a pope. But Catholics need to do it. This guy is no Christian, his religion is political correctness and he is a fanatic.
I agree.
Bless his heart.
What hath God wrought?
Absolutely correct.
A heretic, schismatic or apostate removes himself from the Office of the Papacy by his own act in the same way that he has removed himself from the Faith and thus from the Church. Since Bergoglio is all three, no problem in the least. Better still, since he was all three before being elected, he is not now nor ever was the pope as his election was "null, void and worthless".
Benedict was obviously forced to resign. I'm not Catholic and have no idea how these things work, but the cardinals clearly kicked Benedict to the curb so they could install a SJW pope.
Serious question: When was the last time a pope resigned while still in good health and sound mind?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.