Key African Prelate Backs Communion for Divorced, Remarried

Crux ^ | 2/11/15 | John L. Allen Jr

[marshmallow]

ROME — A key African participant in October’s looming Synod of Bishops on the family said Tuesday he’s open to allowing divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion, belying impressions of a uniformly hostile African stance toward change on such matters.

Archbishop Charles Palmer-Buckle of Accra, Ghana, said in a Crux interview that he supports allowing local bishops to make those decisions on a case-by-case basis, and also believes that’s the result Pope Francis wants from the October summit.

Palmer-Buckle, 64, is one of four executive officers for the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), the continent-wide assembly of Catholic bishops in Africa who met Pope Francis last Saturday in Rome.

In late January, Francis confirmed the election of Palmer-Buckle by his fellow bishops in Ghana as a participant in the Synod of Bishops, set to assemble at the Vatican Oct. 4-25.

When it does, Palmer-Buckle says he’ll be disposed to cast a “yes” vote on the proposal of German Cardinal Walter Kasper to allow Catholics who divorce and remarry outside the Church to return to Communion under certain circumstances

[The Great RJ]

My son is divorced and remarried. However, his first wife was having an affair four months after their wedding and literally dumped his stuff on the curb while her boyfriend moved in months before they were divorced. I don’t regard him as being married and the divorce was no fault of his. He is now happily married and I expect this marriage will last forever. I cannot see barring people in his situation from the sacraments.

[Jim Noble]

someone who is divorced and remarried is in a continuing state of adultery

Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby.

[Buckeye McFrog]

The Catholic Church would most likely grant an annulment to your son in the case you have illustrated. But it would take time, a good deal of money, and they’d put him through some rather invasive and uncomfortable questioning.

Many people would rather just leave the Church than go through that. Particularly if it involves asking your children to testify against one of their parents. That is a bridge too far for many people.

[circlecity]

"If you were to commit a murder, and then later turn to God, you could be forgiven of the sin of murder - but you would still have to pay the price of that murder here on earth."

And I believe the Catholic position is that the price of divorce here on earth is that you aren't allowed to remarry. That doesn't mean you you can't be forgiven and still have salvation. Like I said, I am not a Catholic and am not saying I necessarily agree with their position but I do understand their reasoning and position.

[Ghost of SVR4]

Annulment is not that bad. It is not that costly either, $750.00 from start to finish.
I am going through the process now. There are a lot of questions to be sure, but the “price” of the process is fixed and it takes roughly a year and that is if the other party is completely stubborn about it.

[CA Conservative]

And I believe the Catholic position is that the price of divorce here on earth is that you aren't allowed to remarry.

I believe you are right about their position. And they have the right to hold that position with regard to their members. Just makes me glad I am not a Catholic! :-)

[CynicalBear]

>>translation: So many Catholics have divorced and remarried this is the only hope of keeping the collection baskets filled.<<

Or as is the current trend "be all inclusive as to not exclude anyone" which is a trend ALL churches are following. Watch closely in the future as that philosophy plays out within and between all religions.

[Zionist Conspirator]

This must be a misprint. I refuse to believe an African archbishop would support such a radical repudiation of the church's traditional morality.

I'm sure the author meant African-American! ^_-

[miele man]

later read

[Legatus]

If the pastor was to tell me I couldn’t ever take communion because I was divorced and remarried I would stop attending the church altogether.

Plain and simple facts of the dynamic.

I gather you're not Catholic and don't believe in the indissolubility of marriage in the first place but that's not the first time the world has heard "Non Serviam"... probably won't be the last either.

[Petrosius]

Yes, Jesus hated divorce, and spoke strongly against divorce and remarriage. Does that mean anyone who made that choice is forever lost, even if they later come to repentance?

The repentance that is needed is for the ongoing adultery that violates a still existing marriage. Repent from that and start living a chaste life that respects that you are still married to your first spouse and you can receive Communion.

[Arthur McGowan]

Those who have insisted on giving Communion to Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, John Kerry, et al., are the same bishops and priests who are now going to give Communion to adulterers and fornicators.

The Pope and the majority of bishops are going into schism. The new church will give Communion to abortionists, thereby teaching that abortion is licit. The new church will give Communion to adulterers and fornicators, thereby teaching that adultery and fornication are licit.

The dioceses where the bishop teaches the Catholic Faith number about ten or fifteen in the United States. There are two or three in Western Europe.

The Pope is not a Catholic, and will shortly be actively persecuting and “disciplining” bishops who are Catholic.

[Arthur McGowan]

Does that mean anyone who made that choice is forever lost, even if they later come to repentance? That does not seem to be in line with the Gospel.

What is your definition of "repentance"? According to your definition, if a person continues to commit a sin, has he "repented" of that sin?

[Petrosius]

And I believe the Catholic position is that the price of divorce here on earth is that you aren't allowed to remarry.

That is not a price or penalty for divorce. Following the clear teaching of our Lord, divorce is not possible. Since the so-called "divorced" marriage is still an active and continuing marriage, sexual relations in violation of it are adultery.

[jurroppi1]

Well, I was raised Catholic, I just don’t believe that there is no room for error in the human heart. For the church to take a strident stance on the matter and decide that this is a mistake they cannot countenance whatsoever; well, that’s just a bridge too far for me. If that’s the stance and there is no room for forgiveness in this regard... I guess you can just call me Lucifer then.

[Legatus]

God appears to be more than happy to forgive adultery... one just has to stop committing it. Remember what the Catholic Church teaches about Holy Communion: it’s the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord... to receive Communion in a sinful state is to invite disaster, both spiritual and physical. The Church isn’t being mean by telling sinners not to communicate, the Church is trying to keep bad situations from getting worse.

It’s go and sin no more, not go and sin some more.

Homosexuals have to stop practicing homosexuality, alcoholics have to stop being drunks and adulterers have to stop committing adultery. It’s very simple, not necessarily easy.

[jurroppi1]

I guess that’s where my break with the catholic church begins then - because I am considered an adulterer for something I had little to no control over (no fault divorce, cheating and all that).

The helter-skelter way in which the message is sent from one church, then changed by another is just too much to reconcile with the rest of the messages.

I had decided well before your second post that this is indeed something I need to discuss with the pastor at the church I attend. Based on that answer, I guess will be my decision on whether or not I continue to attend. Not because I want to live in sin, but because I don’t see it that way based on circumstances well beyond what can be explained in a few internet posts.