Schism
Communion is between a man and his God, not between a man and his church.
And so it begins.
It’s the end of the world when Bishops from Malta start talking like Nancy Pelosi.
So, the bottom line is no one is even going to try, since they have an easy out, courtesy of the bishops.
Pure evil, giving sinful advice to sinners and encouraging them to abuse the sacraments. That is NOT the way to be kind to them.
so... gay people if they are ‘at peace with God’ (IE: Their consciences are so seared that they no longer admit that their abomination is an abomination condemned in the sight of God) can also receive communion too?
Why doesn’t the Pope see that this path will render nugatory all Christian moral teaching? Doesn’t he see what’s happened to the mainstream Protestants since they abandoned Christian morality? Is that what he wants? Woe to the shepherds who will not lead us in the path of righteousness!
...”there are complex situations where the choice of living “as brothers and sisters” becomes humanly impossible...”. REALLY? Do the bishops really believe That???! I can’t find any charitable way of asking this but wouldn’t the same “I couldn’t control my behaviour so anything I did is just fine with the Lord” attitude -— apply to any other misconduct too-,such as clerics violating choir boys maybe? IMHO, these bishops are misleading their flocks badly. As teachers of the Word, the bishops should re-read James 3:1: “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.”
Does Catholicism even exist anymore?
From what I can tell, the current Church is no different than the local Foursquare Church, except for the formalized Sacraments (of which anyone can partake I gather).
A key figure in all this is Cardinal Donald Wuerl. If Nancy Pelosi can receive Communion, ANYONE can receive Communion.
John Paul II and Benedict, by dodging the scandal of Communion for Kennedy, Cuomo, Pelosi, Biden, Leahy, etc., are just as responsible for the current crisis as Bergoglio.
That is a Protestant attitude. You decide for yourself what the Bible means by what it says and God will uphold your decision.
OMG!!! APOSTASY!!! Francis etal are going to have to answer for a LOT of BAD things!!
The most dismal period of the old testament is the time of the judges, where everyone did what was right in their own eyes. It’s now the new Papal instruction, does anybody else see a problem here?
Divorce and remarriage only excludes one from being an Elder or a Deacon, nothing else.
I've been married twice. First time was a first marriage for both of us that lasted almost 4 years ended by death. Second time I was a widower before age 28 and met a divorced Christian woman raising two teenage kids alone. Her husband ended their marriage by leaving and taking another woman which technically by age should have put him in jail. He was also physically abusive.
During out dating first as friends after we had met each other at work a love grew. Her pastor had told her it was OK for her to date and later remarry because her husband had broken the vows and ended their covenant and not her and he knew both of them well.
She became very seriously ill while we were dating an illness or a fluke that left her an incomplete quadriplegic. She afterward would need care for the rest of her life and the kids needed a parent and before this happened we planned to marry in about a year. We entered into the marriage in the hospital actually 3 months into a 6 month stay for her and I took the kids home with me until she got out. We did receive counseling from her pastor before he agreed to marry us. We were married in a hospital overseen by the Catholic church in the church chapel and hosted by the Nuns who served in their mission there. We got to know them very well. One was a black belt. The Nuns had hid her and protected her for 3 months at that point.
Divorces happen for a reason and most certainly both parties need to address why honestly with themselves before remarrying so the first marriage issues do not follow them into the second one. Nearly two years ago after 29 years our vows were fulfilled and our marriage ended by her last heartbeat and breath.
How did Jesus deal with the woman at the well? Or the one who was fixing to be stoned? Adultery is adultery whether by action or by thought of which one must ask GOD's forgiveness. You can't undo it but you can be forgiven of it it you repent. Repent means change your heart. It is the heart and what is in a persons thoughts that defile someone. That is why Jesus and Paul gave specific instructions for Communion. It is for forgiveness. You forgive others then ask GOD to forgive you. You are not worthy for communion because of your physical deeds but rather because of faith in Christ shedding of His Blood for us. If you sin you ask GOD and anyone else involved if anyone else forgiveness,pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and try again. We all fail. If we break even one of God's Commandments we break them all. Our life's goal should certainly not be to keep on sinning but rather seeking to separate ourselves from sin which we alone can not accomplish.
If persons obeyed the teachings in The Bible fully but made adultery a sin which forever cuts off one from communion there indeed would be very few worthy by those standards if people were honest with themselves as instructed to be before taking communion and defining adultery as Jesus defined it.
Paul wrote about widows and widowers as well and how some could accept remaining such after loosing a spouse and it being better for some to remarry. In the beginning when GOD created man and woman he did so because both physical and emotionally needed each other. Procreation did not figure into it until after the fall of man. GOD also defines marriage as between man and a woman. Man to man or woman to woman is not recognized in The Bible so that would not even come into this debate.
Among the many things Christ did condemn the Temple leaders harshly over was placing legalisms and burdens upon persons that they themselves could not withstand and there as such was no forgiveness. Marriage should be entered into prayerfully and try to keep it Christ centered. It takes two and it takes work.