Francis urges priests to ‘welcome’ cohabitating couples in the ‘style of the Gospel’ [Cath Cauc]

LifeSite News ^ | February 27, 2017 | Jan Bentz

[ebb tide]

Pope Francis urged parish priests participating in a Vatican-run course titled the “New Marriage Procedure” to “welcome” cohabitating couples living in fornication who “prefer to live together without getting married.” The pope did not ask priests to admonish such couples for living in grave sin nor did he ask them to work for their conversion and repentance.

“At the same time, make yourselves close with the style of the Gospel itself, in the encounter and welcome of those young people that prefer living together without getting married,” he told priests at the Saturday, February 25 event organized by the Roma Rota, the Vatican’s highest ecclesiastical court.

“On the spiritual and moral plane, they are among the poor and the little ones, toward whom the Church, following in the footsteps of her Teacher and Lord, wants to be a Mother that does not abandon but comes close and takes care. These persons are also loved by Christ’s heart. This care of the last, precisely because it emanates from the Gospel, is an essential part of your work of promotion and defense of the Sacrament of Marriage,” he added.

Last year Francis said that cohabitating couples are in a “real marriage” and receive the grace of the Sacrament. “I’ve seen a lot of fidelity in these cohabitations, and I am sure that this is a real marriage, they have the grace of a real marriage because of their fidelity,” he said at that time.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls fornication “gravely contrary to the dignity of persons and of human sexuality which is naturally ordered to the good of spouses and the generation and education of children.”

It further states that situations such as cohabitation “offend against the dignity of marriage; they destroy the very idea of the family; they weaken the sense of fidelity. They are contrary to the moral law. The sexual act must take place exclusively within marriage. Outside of marriage it always constitutes a grave sin and excludes one from sacramental communion.”

The formative course was designed to teach parish priests working in their own respective diocesan courts on marriage annulments, and other related matters, how to implement the changes of the two Motu Proprio, Mitis Iudex and Misericors Jesus, with Amoris Laetitia giving the larger framework.

Francis told the priests that for “every person and every situation you are called to be fellow travelers to witness and support.”

He urged them to “support” all couples who have determined by themselves that their marriage is invalid and want it officially declared as such.

“When you offer this witness, may your care be also to support all those who have realized the fact that their union is not a true sacramental marriage and want to come out of this situation. In this delicate and necessary work, proceed in such a way that your faithful recognize you not so much as experts of bureaucratic acts or juridical norms, but as brothers who put themselves in an attitude of listening and of understanding,” he said.

Francis stated that priests are often the first representative of the Church to whom young people encounter when they get married and at the same time the first to whom they turn when their marriage is in crisis.

“It is you to whom the spouses turn, when serious problems in their relation occur and they find themselves in crisis and have the need to revamp the faith and rediscover the grace of the sacrament; and in some cases ask indications to begin a process of annulment.”

The process of discernment he left in the hands of the individual in their parish since “nobody better than you knows and is in contact with the reality of the social grid of that territory, and experiences the various complexities.”

[Rastus]

Didn’t GWB have an illegal nanny? And Barky had a tranny nanny.

[ebb tide]

Is this fake news ?

No. Unfortunately, it is not fake.

[ebb tide]

“It’s a superstition, because marriage frightens the husband. It’s a superstition we have to overcome” the Pope said. “I’ve seen a lot of fidelity in these cohabitations, and I am sure that this is a real marriage, they have the grace of a real marriage because of their fidelity, but there are local superstitions, etc.”1

http://www.cfnews.org/page88/files/f963af1da96bb10babd7946a5cfcc3ad-599.html

[af_vet_1981]

No. Unfortunately, it is not fake.

As presented by Lifesite, .

For example, the story you linked in this thread has this out of context:
Last year Francis said that cohabitating couples are in a “real marriage” and receive the grace of the Sacrament. “I’ve seen a lot of fidelity in these cohabitations, and I am sure that this is a real marriage, they have the grace of a real marriage because of their fidelity,” he said at that time.

Another site, reports the quotes in a much broader context that makes lifesite look like fake news propaganda.

The initial comments had come as the Pope was addressing the Diocese of Rome’s pastoral congress. After his initial scripted remarks, he held a question-and-answer session.

A layman asked about the “crisis of marriage” and how Catholics can help educate youth in love, help them learn about sacramental marriage, and help them overcome “their resistance, delusions and fears.”

The Pope answered from his own experience.

“I heard a bishop say some months ago that he met a boy that had finished his university studies, and said ‘I want to become a priest, but only for 10 years.’ It’s the culture of the provisional. And this happens everywhere, also in priestly life, in religious life,” he said.

“It’s provisional, and because of this 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.”

He spoke of his encounter with a woman in Buenos Aires who “reproached” him. She said that priests study for the priesthood for years and can get permission to leave the priesthood to marry and have a family. For the laity, this woman said, “we have to do the sacrament for our entire lives, and indissolubly, to us laity they give four (marriage preparation) conferences, and this is for our entire life.”

Pope Francis said that marriage preparation is a problem, and that marital problems are also linked to social situations surrounding weddings.

He recounted his encounter with a man engaged to be married who was looking for a church that would complement his fiancée’s dress and would not be far from a restaurant.

“It’s social issue, and how do we change this? I don’t know,” the Pope said.

He noted that as Archbishop of Buenos Aires he had prohibited marriages in the case of “shotgun weddings” where the prospective bride was pregnant. He did this on the grounds there was a question of the spouses’ free consent to marry.

“Maybe they love each other, and I’ve seen there are beautiful cases where, after two or three years they got married,” he said. “And I saw them entering the church, father, mother and child in hand. But they knew well (what) they did.”

Pope Francis attributed the marriage crisis to people who “don’t know what the sacrament is” and don’t know “the beauty of the sacrament.”

“They don’t know that it’s indissoluble, they don’t know that it’s for your entire life. It’s hard,” the Pope said.

He added that a majority of couples attending marriage prep courses in Argentina typically cohabitated.

“They prefer to cohabitate, and this is a challenge, a task. Not to ask ‘why don’t you marry?’ No, to accompany, to wait, and to help them to mature, help fidelity to mature.”

He said that in Argentina’s northeast countryside, couples have a child and live together. They have a civil wedding when the child goes to school, and when they become grandparents they “get married religiously.”

“It’s a superstition, because marriage frightens the husband. It’s a superstition we have to overcome,” the Pope said. “I’ve seen a lot of fidelity in these cohabitations, and I am sure that this is a real marriage, they have the grace of a real marriage because of their fidelity, but there are local superstitions, etc.”

“Marriage is the most difficult area of pastoral work,” he said.

[ebb tide]

Why did you leave this part out of the article you quoted:

“While he initially said in unscripted comments that “the great majority of our sacramental marriages are null,” he later approved a revision of these remarks.”

“When the Vatican released its official transcript of the encounter the following day, they had changed the comment to say that “a portion of our sacramental marriages are null.”

Did you get that? The Vatican edits Bergolio’s comments to make him look less heretical. It’s a yeoman’s job.

[af_vet_1981]

What is the superstition ? It must be read in the full context of his interview to glean that. The superstition is that so many couples fear and avoid religious marriage. The problem is twofold: the rampant cohabitation in lieu of religious marriage, and the unacceptably high number of religious marriages that end in divorce.

Do you intend to make divorce illegal in every country ?

[af_vet_1981]

Why did you leave this part out of the article you quoted:

Side issue, but relevant in that I was trying to correct the original poster as well.

I posted considerably more of the context in what he said than the original poster ...

[ebb tide]

What part of this do you not understand:

“I’ve seen a lot of fidelity in these cohabitations, and I am sure that this is a real marriage, they have the grace of a real marriage because of their fidelity, but there are local superstitions, etc.”

It is included in the excerpt you quoted from the CNA article? Did you not read it before you posted it?

[jim35]

If this is TRUE, the Pope is a HERETIC!!!

---

Well, he sure wouldn’t be the first Pope to be one. Lots of bad Popes, from what I’ve heard. Folks just got spoiled after the great Polish Pope...now a saint, I think. Was that John Paul II?

[ebb tide]

You have corrected no one. You refuse to accept the facts.

[af_vet_1981]

It is included in the excerpt you quoted from the CNA article? Did you not read it before you posted it?

Yes, of course I read it; I read it in context and saw how absurd the lifesite news propaganda hit piece was. So, even though I would agree with the position, hit piece propaganda really turns me off.

Am I against adultery ? Yes
Was the woman taken in the very act of adultery ? Yes
Am I going to back the religious men with stones ? Not a chance

[ebb tide]

You’re dodging now.

The whole article is about cohabitation and it, and other sources both you and I have sourced, correctly quoted Francis as stating:

“I’ve seen a lot of fidelity in these cohabitations, and I am sure that this is a real marriage, they have the grace of a real marriage because of their fidelity, but there are local superstitions, etc.”

I’m sorry you continue to ignore that.

[af_vet_1981]

You have corrected no one. You refuse to accept the facts.

[ebb tide]

Am I against adultery ? Yes

Are you against sexually active cohabitation? Yes or No.

Do you think a "lot of" cohabititating couples have "real marriage(s), they have the grace of a real marriage because of their fidelity" as Bergoglio thinks? Yes or No?

[af_vet_1981]

You’re dodging now. The whole article is about cohabitation and it, and other sources both you and I have sourced, correctly quoted Francis as stating: “I’ve seen a lot of fidelity in these cohabitations, and I am sure that this is a real marriage, they have the grace of a real marriage because of their fidelity, but there are local superstitions, etc.” I’m sorry you continue to ignore that.

Ok, you be sorry;
The whole article is entitled "Updated: Most marriages today are invalid, Pope Francis suggests." I actually posted much more of it than the original poster, precisely to point out the fake propaganda aspect of the original post. So when I read "Pope Francis said Thursday that many sacramental marriages today are not valid, because couples do not enter into them with a proper understanding of permanence and commitment." that does not tend to support your assertion that the whole article is about cohabitation ...

[ebb tide]

Childish. You won’t accept facts.

Your loss, not mine.

[ebb tide]

No the whole article is titled “Francis urges priests to ‘welcome’ cohabitating couples in the ‘style of the Gospel”.

Yet, you proceeded to make a fool of yourself. Please continue. You’re very amusing.

[af_vet_1981]

Am I against adultery ? Yes

Are you against sexually active cohabitation? Yes or No.
Yes

Do you think a "lot of" cohabititating couples have "real marriage(s), they have the grace of a real marriage because of their fidelity" as Bergoglio thinks? Yes or No?
No, I've never been to rural Northern Argentina.

Can you post a more contextually complete quote rather than making up a straw man ?

He said that in Argentina’s northeast countryside, couples have a child and live together. They have a civil wedding when the child goes to school, and when they become grandparents they “get married religiously.” “It’s a superstition, because marriage frightens the husband. It’s a superstition we have to overcome,” the Pope said. “I’ve seen a lot of fidelity in these cohabitations, and I am sure that this is a real marriage, they have the grace of a real marriage because of their fidelity, but there are local superstitions, etc.” “Marriage is the most difficult area of pastoral work,” he said.

What is distinguished by strict observance of the traditional and written law, and commonly held to have pretensions to superior sanctity ?

[af_vet_1981]

Yet, you proceeded to make a fool of yourself. Please continue. You’re very amusing.

Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Matthew, Catholic chapter five, Protestant verses twenty one to twenty two,
as authorized, but not authored, by King James

[ebb tide]

Bergoglio made that statement as Pope. He wasn’t in Argentina. But it seems like you think he’s right.