Another Bishop Says Chastity Key to Communion Debate

Crux ^ | 1/17/18 | John Allen Jr

[marshmallow]

Bishop Steven Lopes of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Peter, for ex-Anglicans, has issued a pastoral letter on 'Amoris Laetitia' holding that divorced and civilly remarried Catholics may receive Communion only if they commit to "complete chastity."

In a new pastoral letter on the implementation of Amoris Laetitia, another Catholic bishop has concluded that the pontiff’s document on the family does not change the Church’s existing rules for the divorced and civilly remarried, and that Catholics in that situation may receive Communion only if they commit themselves to “complete chastity.”

“A civilly remarried couple, if committed to complete continence, could have the Eucharist available to them, after proper discernment with their pastor and making recourse to the sacrament of reconciliation,” wrote Bishop Steven Lopes, head of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, a structure created to welcome former Anglican communities into the Catholic Church.

“Unless and until the civilly remarried honestly intend to refrain from sexual relations entirely, sacramental discipline does not allow for the reception of the Eucharist,” Lopes wrote.

Lopes joins other American bishops, including Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia and Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix, Arizona, who have issued similar directives.

Named to his current post in November 2015, Lopes is a former priest-secretary to Cardinal William Levada, who headed the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, and later served as a doctrinal official in the congregation.

Created in 2012 and based in Houston, Texas, the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter is open to former Anglican communities in the United States and Canada. As of the date of Lopes’ appointment, it included 42 parishes, 64 priests, four deacons, and roughly 20,000 faithful.

[ebb tide]

I have found that many converts are some of the most orthodox Catholics.

[marshmallow]

Yep.

[scouter]

As a member of the Ordinariate I am especially pleased.

[GCC Catholic]

Named to his current post in November 2015, Lopes is a former priest-secretary to Cardinal William Levada, who headed the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, and later served as a doctrinal official in the congregation.

This bears repeating, especially in light of Cardinal Müller's recent announcement of his decision to not address the question. Bishops are starting to line up on one side or the other.

Pray, and hard.

As an aside, I had the pleasure of studying under Bishop Lopes a few years ago, and found him to be solid -- so this is no surprise to me.

[soycd]

It ain’t helping in africa where they pinch them off faster than they can ovulate.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Your repellent comment has no relationship whatsoever to the topic of this thread. You’re trolling us. Stop it.

[Unam Sanctam]

God bless Bishop Lopes and the Ordinariate!

[Ouchthatonehurt]

Thank God!
Some clarity and doctrinal continuity in this mess.

[Jeff Chandler]

Lopes joins other American bishops, including Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia and Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix, Arizona, who have issued similar directives.

God bless Bishop Olmsted. We got one of the good ones.

[piusv]

Can someone point me to pre-Vatican II teaching that teaches that a divorced and civilly remarried couple can receive communion as long as they are not sexually active. Because it seems to me that, given a couple’s sex life is private and no one would really know that they were truly chaste, such a couple would still cause scandal if they received communion.