Vatican Transcript Alters Pope’s Bombshell Remark on Validity of Catholic Marriages

LifeSite News ^ | 6/17/16 | John Jalsevac

[marshmallow]

June 17, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – The official Vatican transcript of controversial remarks made by Pope Francis this week, in which he speculated that the “great majority” of Catholic marriages are in fact invalid, significantly alters his words.

While a video of the pope’s remarks show clearly that he used the Italian words “grande maggioranza” (great majority) to indicate the proportion of marriages that he believes are “null,” the official Vatican transcript changes those words to the more measured “parte” – i.e. a part, portion, or some.

Yahoo News reports that a Vatican spokesperson stated that the Pope’s words may at times be altered in official transcripts, “after consulting with him or among aides,” in the words of Yahoo News.

The pope made the impromptu remarks on Thursday after addressing the Diocese of Rome’s pastoral congress. He was responding to a question from a layman about the “crisis of marriage.”

In his response Pope Francis speculated that many Catholic couples getting married today don’t understand what marriage is, and enter marriage with a “provisional” mindset. Because of this, he said, “the great majority of our sacramental marriages are null.”

“Because they say, ‘Yes, for the rest of my life!’ but they don’t know what they are saying. Because they have a different culture. They say it, they have good will, but they don’t know.”

The statement has provoked a strong response from many Catholic commentators. On his blog, well-known canonist Ed Peters expressed disbelief. “I am at a loss to understand how anyone … could seriously assert that human nature is suddenly so corrupted and Christ’s sacraments are now so impotent as to have prevented ‘the great majority’ of Christians from even marrying! How can anyone responsibly even posit such a dark and dismal claim, let alone demonstrate it?”

[kearnyirish2]

No, usually a “pre-existing condition” - a pregnancy, hidden homosexuality, or “immaturity” (as I understand it).

[SGNA]

I thought annulments were for only unconsummated marriages, the Kennedy family excepted, of course.

Actually you are closer to the mark than the ones pushing the current Vatican-2 annulment mill line.

Previously extremely, extremely rare (one year in the 1930's only about 35 cases granted by the Vatican) and more or less a combination of non-consummated, unable to consummate, mentally disabled who married their under-aged cousin at the point of a shotgun - and all at the same time LOL!