Posted on 09/18/2014 8:04:08 PM PDT by marshmallow
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family will not open until Oct. 5, but some of its most prominent members are already publicly debating what is bound to be one of its most controversial topics: the eligibility of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion.
In an interview published Sept. 18, a proponent of changing church practice to allow such Catholics to receive Communion answered criticism from some of his fellow cardinals, suggesting they are seeking a "doctrinal war" whose ultimate target is Pope Francis.
"They claim to know on their own what truth is, but Catholic doctrine is not a closed system, but a living tradition that develops," German Cardinal Walter Kasper told the Italian daily Il Mattino. "They want to crystallize the truth in certain formulas ... the formulas of tradition."
"None of my brother cardinals has ever spoken with me," the cardinal said. "I, on the other hand, have spoken twice with the Holy Father. I arranged everything with him. He was in agreement. What can a cardinal do but stand with the pope? I am not the target, the target is another."
Asked if the target was Pope Francis, the cardinal replied: "Probably yes."
Cardinal Kasper, who will participate in the upcoming synod by personal appointment of the pope, was responding to a new book featuring contributions by five cardinals, including three of his fellow synod fathers, who criticize his proposal to make it easier for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion.
According to church teaching, Catholics who remarry civilly without an annulment of their first, sacramental marriage may not receive Communion unless they abstain from sexual relations, living with their new partners "as brother and sister."
Pope Francis has said the predicament of such Catholics exemplifies a.......
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnews.com ...
True. Examples would be the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption which were defined relatively recently.
However, Catholic doctrine cannot contradict itself such that what was right one day, is suddenly wrong the next. If the Church is wrong about Communion for the divorced, what else is it wrong about? The sinfulness of sodomy? And where does it end?
That is not "development" of doctrine. It is denial of doctrine and a rupture with tradition.
I remember my father talking about this to me last year when my mother passed away. My parents divorced in 1976 and my father remarried in 1978 and still is married to my step-mother. My father is Roman Catholic and my mother was Lutheran. He told me that when Mom passed on that he can now take communions since in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church, he was still married to my mother until her death.
I have no use for the Catholic church. I was baptised in 1957, and my parents dragged me and my siblings to church every Sunday for 12 years. I actually had to make up a sin for my first confession. I quit them an 15 and never regretted it. My second wife wanted to become catholic but we couldn’t because I had been married and divorced already. Anyway, I don’t need Catholicism to get me to God. It is a system of social control. And I will never forgive the Catholic church for what they did to Galileo and especially Giordano Bruno.
In 1966, I was in seventh grade. Somebody asked the nun what if the Pope declared that there was no God. She said, “Then I would know that he’s not the Pope.”
This is basic. If Francis presides over and ratifies a synod that declares that adulterers may receive Communion, then I will know that he is not the Pope.
The bishops (Wuerl, Dolan, O’Malley, and about 95% of them), who want to keep giving Communion to pro-abortion politicians, are all for giving Communion to adulterers. They want the whole principle trashed.
Nancy Pelosi receives Communion because she has photos of Cardinal Donna Wuerl in gay bars.
I’ve heard the same about “buying annulments” (and know nothing of the experience), but there is the possibility of one of the spouses fighting it (Ted Kennedy’s wife did so - she challenged the Church when they wanted to let Ted re-marry).
I don’t know how clergy keep a straight face when asking people for money nowadays...
Am I incorrect that both the theological positions of the Assumption and the Immaculate Conception are dogmas of the Latin Church? Is no communion for divorced and civilly remarried Latins also dogma? If not, is it not a disciplinary canon of some sort and therefore susceptible to being laid aside, like not going to a Jewish doctor?
Galileo was a relative of yours?
One of the reforms after Vatican II was the widespread of the annulment process. But another abuse is what leads to these dilemmas is the laxity of instruction which has made many Catholics who decide to get married not to be told that they will be no turning back once they makes their vows. Consequently, how many couples take their vows lightly? When for so many marriage becomes a matter of a wedding and a honeymoon, and with the first storm, sorry I’m out of here, then probably a very large number. The words, expressed most powerfully perhaps, in the Book of Common Prayer, hold up a high standards.In sickness and in health so long as you both shall live until death do us part. How many young couples realize what they are saying?
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.