Posted on 09/20/2014 5:54:47 PM PDT by narses
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — In advance of a global synod in Rome next month, Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas J. Tobin said Thursday that the church should consider simplifying its annulment process and lifting the ban on Holy Communion for Catholics who are divorced and civilly remarried. Bishop Tobin addressed the issue in his column in the Rhode Island Catholic, the Diocese of Providence newspaper. He noted that bishops from around the world will examine the subject at the synod on “Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of Evangelization,” with Pope Francis, next month and again next year.
Catholic Church uses five criteria in deciding to grant an annulment
Read Bishop Tobin's column in the Rhode Island Catholic In his column, Bishop Tobin advocates a more “pastoral approach” to the dilemma — without compromising church teachings. Any changes should be done at a global level, he said.
“Although the teaching of Christ and his Church about the permanence of marriage is clear and undeniable, the lived reality is that many individuals, for a variety of reasons perhaps — personal, catechetical or cultural — are ill-equipped to fulfill the demands of the law,” Bishop Tobin wrote.
Should divorced and civilly remarried Catholics be allowed to receive Communion? (4,005 votes) Yes: 67% (2,690) No: 33% (1,315)
While he doesn’t have all the answers, Bishop Tobin wrote, “Nevertheless, my forty-one years as a priest and nearly twenty-two as a bishop have convinced me that the status quo is unacceptable. For the spiritual well-being of the divorced and remarried members of our Catholic Family, for the salvation of their souls, we’ve got to do something!”
The answers should be determined “by the experts … including our Pope and bishops and theologians, who are a whole lot smarter and holier and a lot better versed in this than I am.”
The bishop’s column, “Divorced and Remarried Catholics — We’ve Got to Do Something!”, is his second since he took a hiatus from his biweekly “Without a Doubt” feature in June 2013. He said he took that hiatus “to relax a little bit, and refresh my perspective again. …”
Comments flooded the bishop’s Facebook page within hours of publication.
“Where did you get your Bishop’s license? Out of a Cracker Jack Box?” wrote one.
“Your Excellency. It saddens me to read your words. Jesus spoke very clearly about marriage. Your argument tries to pit Jesus against Himself.”
Bishop Tobin said, “Someone on the Facebook page demanded my resignation. Some of the comments on Facebook present me as a big left-wing heretic now.” A noted conservative whose comments have sparked controversy — most recently by publicly taking issue with some of Pope Francis’ more liberal views — Bishop Tobin chuckled at the irony of being branded as “left-leaning.”
In a phone interview, Bishop Tobin said the issue “is an enormous pastoral challenge for the church.”
“I think it’s something we have to look at,” Bishop Tobin said. “I was very clear about saying I don’t have the answers. But we’ve got a challenge here. We’ve got a problem. We have to at least look at it and talk about it. Otherwise, if we go through this long synod process for the next two years and end up where we are now, that will be a failure.”
Given plummeting numbers of practicing Catholics, Bishop Tobin said by allowing people who are divorced and civilly remarried to receive Holy Communion, “it seems to me it would encourage them to participate in the life of the church.”
Wrestling with this issue, Bishop Tobin wrote, “I often think about, and truly agonize over, the many divorced Catholics who have ‘dropped out’ of the Church completely, as well as those who attend Mass faithfully every Sunday, sometimes for years, without receiving the consolation and joy of the Holy Eucharist.
“And I know that I would much rather give Holy Communion to these long-suffering souls than to pseudo-Catholic politicians who parade up the aisle every Sunday for Holy Communion and then return to their legislative chambers to defy the teachings of the Church by championing same-sex marriage and abortion.”
Bishop Tobin made news in 2009 when he forbade then-U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy from receiving Communion because of his advocacy of abortion rights. He said in Thursday’s phone interview that he was not referencing Kennedy in his column, calling it “an old story.”
Bishop Tobin said there is “common misperception” that people who are divorced cannot receive Communion. Divorce, in and of itself, “is not a hindrance to Holy Communion,” he said.
“It becomes a problem if someone is divorced and remarried without the blessing of the church. Of course, as I’ve said, now we have many, many people who are in that situation,” the bishop said.
“The only way that divorced people who remarry can be readmitted to Holy Communion, is to have their first marriage annulled and their second marriage blessed by the church.”
In his column, Bishop Tobin asks, “For starters, can we at least think about simplifying the annulment process so that it’s more akin to the current practice of receiving various dispensations for marriage, handled completely at the local level with the oversight of the Diocesan Bishop?”
“Can we eliminate the necessity of having detailed personal interviews, hefty fees, testimony from witnesses, psychological exams and automatic appeals to other tribunals?”
He wrote: instead, “Can we rely more on the conscientious personal judgment of spouses about the history of their marriage … and their worthiness to receive Holy Communion.”
Whatever the outcome of the deliberations in Rome, “it should be adopted by the Universal Church,” he wrote. “To impose local solutions to this widespread problem would be completely dishonest and misleading, causing only confusion and division.”
The initial version of this story was published at 8:55 a.m. Thursday and updated at 12:01 a.m. Friday.
On Twitter: @karenleez
Ken are you asking if a non-catholic can be save?Yes they can.
Personal experience — one of my daughters.
He is a forgiving God
The question then becomes, was the marriage valid? If so, then nothing short of death terminates that.
Please don’t be angry. These are the kinds of questions that many non-Catholic people have about the Church. A lack of understanding leads to confusion and strife.
I asked my question out of a sense of curiosity and a genuine desire to understand how the Catholic Church would manage such a thing.
As the situation stands, the woman and the child would be without support. How does it benefit the child to prevent the mother from finding another husband and gaining support? Or is that something that the Church considers secondary and unimportant?
Harry was a good man and spoke to his Pastor before he died.He died a month ago.Was he saved-only God knows.I know the readings from the gospel.
“The Sheep and the Goats
…39’When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40”The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ 41”Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;…”
Great. Then let’s just do away with marriage completely.
I think the annulment process needs to be amended to address the fact of no fault divorce. When a person is unable to defend themselves against being divorced keeping them from the Eucharist should they decide to marry again does seem harsh to me.
Well,in today’s world, being a bastard is no problem.
After all, Americans elected one as President in 2008 and then re-elected him again in 2012.
Annulment does not make a child illegitimate.
Agreed,They should look at this.
Why not?
An annulment states the marriage never existed.
If a child’s parents were never married, the child is illegitimate.
Or do you have some other definition of “illegitimate”?
Salvation and I... it's "complicated."
But that seems counterproductive. The man in this situation should bear 100% of the brunt of the trouble for doing this to his wife. She is now a single mother, through no fault of her own. If she meets a great guy that loves her son and wants to be with both of them, shouldn’t she be able to remarry without worrying about her immortal soul? Or she either cloisters herself and is alone forever, or she lives with the new man in sin.
None of these are acceptable to the reality of every day life.
What about shacking up with some dude, then? Is fornication a mortal sin?
I used the term "bastard," which implies something very different. The parents weren't sacramentally married at the time of birth.
Yes.
forgiveness??
asking God for forgiveness for things done wrong - and he does - it is one of the basic tenets of Christianity - look at the Lord’s Prayer, the Beatitudes, at Jesus hanging from the Cross saying, “Father forgive then, they know not what they do.”
I don't want this is the key phrase...wasn't really open to child bearing, didn't willingly enter into marriage in the first place...misunderstood what marriage entailed, was too immature to make an adult decision concerning marriage, ....the Catholic church investigates EVERY problem that the mRRIAGE CAN POSSIBLY HAVE HAD.....IF THERE Is (whoops)....reason that the marriage is not valid, they will rule......if there can be found no reason to annul...the marriage is valid and BOTH parties remain married.
That doesn’t mean you throw the Sacrament of Marriage out the window.
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