Reflections on “Amoris Laetitia” {CATHOLIC CAUCUS}

https://www.thecatholicthing.org ^ | April 23, 2016 | Fr. Gerald E. Murray

[NKP_Vet]

The perennial discipline of the Catholic Church on the admissibility to Holy Communion of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics living in adulterous, or irregular, second unions was succinctly spelled out by St. John Paul II in Familiaris Consortio: “[T]he Church reaffirms her practice, which is based upon Sacred Scripture, of not admitting to Eucharistic Communion divorced persons who have remarried. They are unable to be admitted thereto from the fact that their state and condition of life objectively contradict that union of love between Christ and the Church which is signified and effected by the Eucharist. Besides this, there is another special pastoral reason: if these people were admitted to the Eucharist, the faithful would be led into error and confusion regarding the Church’s teaching about the indissolubility of marriage.” [84]

This discipline was reaffirmed in 1994 in a Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church concerning the Reception of Holy Communion by the Divorced and Remarried Members of the Faithful by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which was specifically approved by St. John Paul II: “In fidelity to the words of Jesus Christ, the Church affirms that a new union cannot be recognised as valid if the preceding marriage was valid. If the divorced are remarried civilly, they find themselves in a situation that objectively contravenes God’s law. Consequently, they cannot receive Holy Communion as long as this situation persists.” [4]

[NKP_Vet]

A great article. Note: This is a long but trenchant analysis by our esteemed colleague, who is not only a canon lawyer, but has been observing the pope closely ever since we covered together, with Raymond Arroyo for EWTN, the 2013 conclave at which Francis was elected. He was also present in Rome for the 2015 Synod. So he is not, like many commentators, simply speculating by pulling out quotations from one place or another in AL. Instead, he situates his reflections in a larger context of past, present, and future. This is worth careful attention. – Robert Royal

[Mrs. Don-o]

+1

[marshmallow]

An excellent analysis from Fr. Murray. There is absolutely no question that AL is in conflict with Familiaris Consortio and traditional Catholic teaching. No doubt, whatsoever.

The only question now remaining is; what will be the response of the Church hierarchy? Will the CDF intervene? I doubt it, since it most likely reviewed AL prior to publication and gave it the green light. Will a coalition of cardinals emerge, similar to that which penned a letter to the Pope prior to the 2015 Synod and publish a rebuttal? Will a certain Pope emeritus come to the rescue? Or will it simply be business as usual?

I suspect the latter since a coalition of Cardinals publicly opposing the Pope would be tantamount to schism and few if any would be willing to go down that road.