Posted on 06/29/2015 7:27:02 PM PDT by marshmallow
Editors note: This was originally given in Rome May 8, 2015 during the Rome Life Forum.
ROME, June 24, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) -- In this presentation I intend to give a brief overview of events before and during the Extraordinary Synod held in October 2014.
On March 17 2013, four days after his election as Pope and during his first Angelus address in St Peters Square, the Holy Father drew attention to a recently published book by Walter Cardinal Kasper and strongly praised it. He said:
Cardinal Kasper has for many years advocated a change in the Churchs teaching on the reception of Holy Communion by the divorced and remarried and the book in question is Mercy: The Essence of the Gospel and the Key to the Christian Life, advocates many gravely problematic positions, which underlie his advocacy for such a change.
These include, but are not limited to, Kaspers understanding of the nature of justice and mercy, his theology of justification and, most grave of all, his very understanding of the nature of God.
It caused great concern to many Catholics that Pope Francis should speak of Kasper and his new book in such terms.
On October 8, 2013 the Holy Father announced that two synods would be held to discuss The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelisation. The synods were to be organized by the General Secretariat of the Synod led by Lorenzo Cardinal Baldisseri. On October 26 the Secretariat sent a questionnaire to all bishops conferences inviting Catholics at all levels of the Church to submit their opinions on matters relating to marriage and the family.
Just three days earlier, on October 23, the Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, His Eminence Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Müller had published a lengthy article in LOsservatore Romano, entitled Testimony to the power of grace: On the indissolubility of marriage and the debate concerning the civilly remarried and the sacraments.
This article defended the irreformable teaching of the Church that a ratified and consummated sacramental marriage cannot be dissolved by any power on earth and that divorced persons who have contracted a civil union cannot receive the sacraments of Penance and Holy Communion without true repentance and amendment of life.
This article by Müller is a clear indication of his concerns about the direction of the synod at this very early stage.
Sure enough, Reinhard Cardinal Marx, Chairman of the Bishops Conference of Germany and a member of Pope Francis inner circle of nine cardinals asserted that Cardinal Müller would not be able to stop the debate, that at the synod everything will be discussed and that at the moment it is not possible to say what the results of the debate will be.
These are very early indications that the issue of Holy Communion for the divorced and remarried was on the agenda of the synod.
All doubts however were removed on February 20, 2014 when Cardinal Kasper addressed a consistory of Cardinals that been specifically called to prepare for the upcoming synod.
In his speech he advocated for the readmission of the divorced and remarried to Holy Communion without amendment of life, proposing a number of potential justifications for the practice. He said that he did not rule out that the last word will be given at the Synod, in agreement with the Pope.
Reports indicate that there was substantial opposition to Kaspers proposal from the other Cardinals present. Cardinal Ruini, Vicar Emeritus of Rome, is said to have claimed that 85% of those present argued against Kaspers position.
Kasper then had opportunity to respond to his critics and he made it very clear that he was not acting alone or on his own initiative. He told the consistory that he was grateful to the Holy Father for his confidence in having entrusted to me this report.
Fr. Lombardi, the Holy See spokesman, told the press that the Holy Father had told the cardinals that the problem of Holy Communion for the divorced and remarried must be dealt without casuistry. Fr. Lombardi continued by saying that Kaspers speech was in great harmony with the words of the pope.
The next day Pope Francis praised Kaspers address in very strong terms. He said:
When Kaspers address was published in book form less than a month later these words of the pope appeared as an endorsement on the back cover.
However, if Cardinal Kasper thought that the popes public support would prevent serious opposition to his proposals he was very much mistaken.
In the weeks and months that followed a number of significant publications appeared addressing his proposals; the most significant being a book co-authored by five Cardinals and four other scholars. The book, entitled Remaining in the Truth of Christ: Marriage and Communion in the Catholic Church, is a systematic refutation of the arguments put forward by Cardinal Kasper.
Kasper himself conducted an extensive campaign in favor of his position, giving numerous lengthy interviews to the religious and media.
And throughout he made it very clear that he was acting in agreement with the pope.
For example on September 26, 2014 just before the Synod opened Kasper gave an interview to Il Mattino in which he said:
Later in the interview he confirmed again:
The Holy Father himself has given clear indications of his views. In an interview with an Argentinean newspaper shortly before the Synod he was asked about Remaining in the Truth of Christ. The interviewer asked if he was worried by the book; putting it to him that the book was, and I quote, critical of your positions.
The Holy Father did not reject the suggestion that he agreed with Cardinal Kasper. Rather he replied,
He continued:
In his opening sermon at the Synod Pope Francis denounced:
He went on:
The first session of the Synod was held on Monday October 6 and it quickly became clear that events were proceeding according to a pre-arranged agenda.
Indeed, we had been forewarned about this possibility. On September 20 journalist Marco Tossati had reported in La Stampa that an unnamed Cardinal had been heard explaining how the Synod was going to be manipulated to achieve a change in the Churchs teaching on the issue of Communion for the divorced and remarried.
Tossati explained the three elements of the plan:
Firstly, to ensure that all written presentations were handed in well in advance. This had already been accomplished by the time Tossatis article was published.
Secondly, to read all of the presentations carefully and to arrange that, before a speech deemed problematic be delivered, that another synod father speak first in order to respond to the points that were about to be made.
Thirdly, to actually prevent some synod fathers from speaking on the grounds that they had run out of time.
We dont know precisely what was said in the synod hall because, for the first time in recent synods, the interventions of the synod fathers were kept secret. All communication between the synod fathers and the public was conducted by means of daily press conferences and briefings organized by the Holy See press office.
Members of the Voice of the Family team attended all of them and we would agree wholeheartedly with the assertion of Cardinal Burke that the information is manipulated in a way so as to stress only one position instead of reporting faithfully the various positions that were expressed.
This manipulation became most evident in the relatio post disceptationem, which was released halfway through the synod. This interim document, supposedly based on the contributions of the synod fathers was, in the words of George Cardinal Pell tendentious and skewed and in the words of Wilfrid Cardinal Napier, Archbishop of Durban, the document was virtually irredeemable and not what were saying at all.
This interim relatio made it clear that the goal of the radicals was not just the admission to Holy Communion of a certain group but rather an assault on the whole edifice of the Churchs teaching on questions of life, marriage and the family.
An extensive discussion of this document is beyond the scope of this presentation but the situation was summarized well by Cardinal Burke who said that the synod:
He went on to describe the interim report as a manifesto, a kind of incitement to a new approach to fundamental issues of human sexuality in the Church.
George Cardinal Pell expressed a similar view. There were, he said, radical elements within the hierarchy who were using the issue of Holy Communion for the divorced and remarried as, in his words, a stalking horse. What they really want, said Cardinal Pell, is the acceptance of cohabitation and same-sex unions.
No wonder then, that the worlds media reported the document as a revolution within the Church.
There was however significant opposition towards the document amongst many synod fathers and this manifested itself when the synod fathers separated into small groups to discuss the text. Each of these small groups produced a report suggesting amendments.
On the morning of Thursday October 16 Cardinal Baldisseri announced that the reports of these small groups would not be made public, which was another break with precedent. His announcement caused fury to erupt on the floor of the synod hall. Reports indicate that a significant number of synod fathers, led by Cardinal Pell, demanded publication of the reports, which was granted, it is said, by a nod of the Holy Fathers head after a period of around fifteen minutes.
Cardinal Burke explained why the publication of the reports was so necessary:
The publication of the reports of the small groups ensured that significant amendments had to be made in the final report of the synod. The final relatio synodi contained many restatements of Catholic teaching on some, but not all, of the key issues.
For example, the interim report had said, unions between people of the same sex cannot be considered on the same footing as matrimony between man and woman.
This statement could clearly be interpreted as saying that there is some footing on which they could be considered legitimate.
The final report on the other hand quotes previous Church teaching when it says: There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God's plan for marriage and family.
While such changes are clearly very positive, Voice of the Familys view is that both documents have essentially the same underlying problems and that the relatio synodi, for all its improvements, remains unacceptable.
We know, because Cardinal Baldisseri has confirmed it, that the Holy Father both read and approved all the documents produced at every stage of the synodal process.
The Extraordinary Synod on the Family closed on Saturday October 18. In his final address to the synod fathers Pope Francis condemned what he called:
He then moved onto to criticize the faults of those he termed so-called progressives and liberals whom he accused of binding wounds without first curing them and of treating the symptoms and not the causes and the root of peoples problems.
However he then moved his focus back to those who, and I quote, transform the bread into a stone and cast it against the sinners, the weak, and the sick, that is, to transform it into unbearable burdens.
It is understandable, given the context of his remarks and the content of the debates during the synod, that many have interpreted the Holy Fathers words as criticism of those who defended Catholic doctrine against the threat posed by the radical agenda advocated by Cardinal Kasper and other senior prelates.
I will close with a short reflection from Cardinal Burke taken from an interview His Eminence gave to the Catholic News Service shortly after the synod ended:
He continued:
Since the end of the synod the confusion in the Church has only deepened and threats facing the family have expanded.
Sickening.
“ a new approach to fundamental issues...” That’s not what we need. We need to hear from the Pope and theologians what the Lord expects from us and what we should do to please the Lord.
Not surprized. Global Warming is a cover for instituting perversion in the church and promoting abortion
Speaking as a Protestant, God bless Cardinal Burke!
**Members of the Voice of the Family team attended all of them and we would agree wholeheartedly with the assertion of Cardinal Burke that the information is manipulated in a way so as to stress only one position instead of reporting faithfully the various positions that were expressed.**
Repeating this.
And this:
**I will close with a short reflection from Cardinal Burke taken from an interview His Eminence gave to the Catholic News Service shortly after the synod ended:
...in a short period of time how much we have descended and gone away from the truth of our faith and the truth of the moral law in society in general. But the fact that these kinds of questions are being seriously discussed in the church should shock us all and awaken us to the need today to give an heroic witness to the truth of the indissolubility of marriage from attacks from within the church herself.
He continued:
...the very fact that these matters were being discussed and questioned by the presidents of the conferences of bishops, by the heads of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia, and by other special appointees of the Holy Father to the synod caused a tremendous confusion and could even induce the faithful into error with regard to the teaching about marriage and other teachings.**
Amen. Your good will kind spirit is very much appreciated here.
Thank you. I was born and bred in Evangelical Protestantism. As it turns out, I have a doctorate from a Jesuit University (Marquette) in Theology. For a number of reasons, I am not likely to be a candidate for conversion to Catholicism. However, I have the greatest respect for the Catholic Church, and defend it at every opportunity. My core belief is that the Church is comprised of all those who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and subscribe to fundamental Christian affirmations such as the Nicene Creed. There is a great mystery here, and I do not know what the future holds as our great nation descends into paganism, but I desire to affirm and support my Catholic brethren who adhere to the Faith “once and for all delivered to the saints.” God bless.
Thank you. I was born and bred in Evangelical Protestantism. As it turns out, I have a doctorate from a Jesuit University (Marquette) in Theology. For a number of reasons, I am not likely to be a candidate for conversion to Catholicism. However, I have the greatest respect for the Catholic Church, and defend it at every opportunity. My core belief is that the Church is comprised of all those who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and subscribe to fundamental Christian affirmations such as the Nicene Creed. There is a great mystery here, and I do not know what the future holds as our great nation descends into paganism, but I desire to affirm and support my Catholic brethren who adhere to the Faith “once and for all delivered to the saints.” God bless.
Thanks for the reply. A doctorate from Marquette in Theology ... excellent and I am a bit envious. (in a good way) I took some undergrad courses in theology (required) for my B.A. in English literature many years ago and loved studying theology. This was at St. Bonaventure. I always wanted to pursue a post graduate degree in theology, however marriage and raising daughters intervened. All four daughters (3 20 somethings and one rising senior) have retained their faith which is not that easy to do, so I must have been able to impart some level of Truth to them so that is more important (in God’s will for me).
Our youngest daughter, a rising senior in high school, visited Fordham and absolutely loved it. We became family friends with a Jesuit who was serving for a while at the Martyrs Shrine in Auriesville; he lives now at Fordham for retirement.
My daughter will also be visiting Loyola (Baltimore) and St. Joe’s Philadelphia.
This is the key (as you state); we can really get along (Catholics and non) when it can be seen that the Nicene Creed is our friend and unifier and we are not the evil whore of Babylon. This does not mean that non catholics would have to believe every line of it either - it just means that we do have a common starting point and we should not be in scriptural wars. (this not directed at you personally, of course - general) This would not preclude a friendly, lively and civil discourse at times on the finer points of doctrine which can be very worthwhile, even heated.
The country IS heading toward paganism (indeed we are already there) and we in the Christian remnant are going to have to be a witness of love and charity together to face the onslaught of hate and persecutions that are inevitable.
P.S. I have great respect for the authentic Jesuit charism before the dissidents took the order into such a liberal morass; The Spiritual Exercises are fabulous and one does not need to be exclusively Catholic to benefit from them. (I am sure you know this.) Also St. Bellarmine is a favorite of mine who wrote before (some of) the Jesuits began going off the rails.
On topic: I will pray for Pope Francis that he sticks to doctrine and stays away from liberal causes and stays the course on the true Catholic doctrines on marriage for the upcoming syniod. Catholics have stayed strong on marriage when some protestants caved (Henry VIII, divorce, birth control). Let us hope we can hold the line again. Most important I am praying that the synod leaders don’t come out with watered down, ambiguous sounding documents.
Sorry this is long.
syniod = synod
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