Posted on 04/10/2015 6:19:36 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
The argument that divorced and civilly remarried Catholics (lacking annulments) be allowed to receive the Eucharist is kind of like 40+ year-old, re-heated mashed potatoes: it’s been spit out by the authority of Church time and again, but for some reason keeps appearing on the spoon of stubborn theologians and bishops who keep trying to trick us into eating it by making cutesie airplane noises.
In an essay for Communio entitled “The Merciful Gift Of Indissolubility and the Question Of Pastoral Care For Civilly Divorced And Remarried Catholics”, Nicholas J. Healy, JR. traces the history of this argument, as well as four of the main times the Church has lovingly but resoundingly shut it down. I’ve listed my findings from the document below in order to provide some context for this issue that’s sure to arise once again at the October 2015 Synod on the Family.
1. 1965 and Vatican II:
The argument for allowing communion in certain circumstances to divorced and remarried Catholics can be traced back, at least in recent history, to the fourth session of the Second Vatican Council. Archbishop Elias Zoghby, the patriarchal vicar of the Melkites in Egypt, proposed that the Eastern practice of tolerating remarriage in certain cases should be considered. Even though Zobhby triggered a swift and negative response, dissenters still use this instance as an example in their favor.
Shut down by Pope Paul VI: "... the Church has no authority to change what is of divine law."
At the request of Pope Paul VI, all normal activities of the Council were suspended until the proposal was addressed. Cardinal Journet was asked by the Pope to respond to Zoghby, and citing Mk 10:2 and 1 Cor 7:10–11, he concluded that “the teaching of the Catholic Church on the indissolubility of sacramental marriage is the very teaching of the Lord Jesus that has been revealed to us and has always been safeguarded and proclaimed in the Church . . . the Church has no authority to change what is of divine law.”
2. 1970s: Dissent from Catholic Theological Society
Despite the Church’s response at the Second Vatican Council, the 1970s saw a barrage of publications from Catholic theologians and bishops advocating for a change in Church teaching, particularly in the United States and in Germany. In 1972, a study committee commissioned by the Catholic Theological Society of America issued an “Interim Pastoral Statement” on “The Problem of Second Marriages,” arguing that not only should the divorced and remarried be admitted back to the sacraments, but that the Church needed to rethink and redefine the very ideas of consummation and indissolubility. That same year in Germany, several prominent bishops and theologians such as Schnackenburg, Ratzinger*, Lehmann, and Böckle wrote volumes on the matter, arguing for leniency in certain circumstances similar to practices in the Orthodox Church (called oikonomia, which roughly translates to “stewardship” or “management of a household”).
*Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, officially retracted his support of communion for the divorced and remarried in a letter published in The Tablet in 1991, and has several times since voiced his support for Church teaching as expressed in “Familiaris Consortio”.
The Church holds a Synod on the Family in 1980, as divorces were on the rise throughout the world. The result of the 1980 Synod was Pope John Paul II’s 1981 apostolic exhortation “Familiaris Consortio” (roughly, “Of Family Partnership”), which contains beautiful reflections on the role of the family in God’s divine plan, and specifically includes a section about irregular situations. Addressing the situation of the divorced and civilly remarried, Pope John Paul II says the following:
Together with the Synod, I earnestly call upon pastors and the whole community of the faithful to help the divorced, and with solicitous care to make sure that they do not consider themselves as separated from the Church, for as baptized persons they can, and indeed must, share in her life. They should be encouraged to listen to the word of God, to attend the Sacrifice of the Mass, to persevere in prayer, to contribute to works of charity and to community efforts in favor of justice, to bring up their children in the Christian faith, to cultivate the spirit and practice of penance and thus implore, day by day, God’s grace. Let the Church pray for them, encourage them and show herself a merciful mother, and thus sustain them in faith and hope.
However, the 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.
Shut down by Pope John Paul II: "...the Church reaffirms her practice, which is based upon Sacred Scripture,"
The Church holds a Synod on the Family in 1980, as divorces were on the rise throughout the world. The result of the 1980 Synod was Pope John Paul II’s 1981 apostolic exhortation “Familiaris Consortio” (roughly, “Of Family Partnership”), which contains beautiful reflections on the role of the family in God’s divine plan, and specifically includes a section about irregular situations. Addressing the situation of the divorced and civilly remarried, Pope John Paul II says the following:
Together with the Synod, I earnestly call upon pastors and the whole community of the faithful to help the divorced, and with solicitous care to make sure that they do not consider themselves as separated from the Church, for as baptized persons they can, and indeed must, share in her life. They should be encouraged to listen to the word of God, to attend the Sacrifice of the Mass, to persevere in prayer, to contribute to works of charity and to community efforts in favor of justice, to bring up their children in the Christian faith, to cultivate the spirit and practice of penance and thus implore, day by day, God’s grace. Let the Church pray for them, encourage them and show herself a merciful mother, and thus sustain them in faith and hope.
However, the 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.
3. 1993: Dissent from German theologians
Three prominent German bishops, Oskar Saier, Walter Kasper, and Karl Lehmann, publish a letter in 1993 on pastoral care for the divorced and remarried, essentially saying that while what Pope John Paul II said in Familiaris Consortio is very nice and generally true, it can’t possibly apply to every difficult situation that arises. These bishops then proposed their own guide for divorced and remarried Catholics to determine their worthiness for the sacraments, as guided by a pastor. There were three conditions the German bishops laid out for the possibility of communion: the individuals should be repentant for the failure of the first marriage; the second civil marriage has to “prove itself over time as stable”; and the “commitments assumed in the second marriage have to be accepted.” Under these conditions, the bishops argued, civilly remarried people could in good conscience receive the Eucharist without the need to live continently.
Shut it down: In 1994, The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reaaffirms Catholic teaching
The CDF (Congregation n the Doctrine of the Faith) in 1994 issued an indirect response to the German bishops in the “Letter Concerning Communion”, which said church teaching “cannot be modified for difficult situations.” While it never mentioned the letter from the German bishops, it was clearly written in response to it. The Congregation’s letter cited passages from Scripture, Familiaris Consortio, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church to support Church teaching, and addressed false notions of conscience that would allow individuals to determine for themselves whether or not their first marriage was valid.
4. 1994-2005: Various bishops continue call to re-open the discussion
Literature published by various bishops and theologians still showed a tendency to stray from Pope John Paul II’s teaching in “Familiaris Consortio”, leading the Church to call for a Synod on the Eucharist in 2005, during which the issue was studied and addressed extensively.
Shut it down: Pope Benedict XVI - Sacamentus Caritatus
Pope Benedict XVI issued a post-Synod apostolic exhortation called “Sacramentum Caritatis”, in which he confirmed Church doctrine and practice. He also called for a deeper theological understanding of the relationship between the sacrament of marriage and the sacrament of the and the sacrament of the Eucharist, and asked for better pastoral efforts in the area of marriage preparation for young people.
There are two important things to remember when considering this issue. The first is that the pain and separation felt by divorced and remarried Catholics is real, and the exhortation of the recent Popes to reach out to these people in the Church should be taken seriously by clergy and lay faithful alike. The second thing to remember is that while the pain of the divorced and remarried is a serious issue, it is not the only important and pressing issue in the Church at the moment, with thousands of Christians fleeing their homes or being slaughtered at the hands of Islamic extremists both in the Middle East and Africa.
Shut it down: the Holy Spirit will move, as He always has, to protect Catholic doctrine and unity
Still, because the issue continues to arise, the Synod Fathers will address it at the Synod on the Family later this year, and Pope Francis will write an apostolic exhortation on the matter some time after that. Let us continue to pray for all in Church leadership, and that those in authority have the courage to trust that the Holy Spirit will shut it down, as he has always done when erroneous proposals threaten Church doctrine and unity.
Yes, we did. And he loves bacon, and all, as he calls it, “pork products.”
During Passover, I had him watch a program with a Jewish rabbi that shows the Jewish antecedents to Christianity preaches the way to Jesus. No effect.
My husband showed me the way to conservatism and blesses the evangelical Christians who bravely are at the fore of our country’s moral battles.
I know our God is a merciful God.
If you know any good Jewish jokes, pass them on. I gift them to him on his birthday.
Thanks for the funny thoughts.
I hope and pray that there will be a fifth time with the upcoming synod and its aftermath.
I'm not sure that your conclusion is correct...on what grounds are you ineligible??
a rose, by any other name.....if you like ekklesia, so be it....it is really the church....and Catholic at that.
Good for you. I’ll bet if you both pray to the Blessed Mother together, he’ll come around in no time.
“Given the terrible problems your denomination is having with its leadership, denying the Lord’s Supper to individuals who want to seek God seems the least of your problems... As an example... http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3218873/posts There are many more I could post. Those seem far more important issues, that if not changed will end what is left of the Roman Denomination.”
Yeah, I have numerous friends who left the church because of this very issue and whose children were subsequently not raised in the church.
For 2,015 years the Catholic church has been doing just fine thank you....these important issues, and hundreds of others have challenged the church since Christ established it. Remember that He promised that He would be with her until the end of time and so far He is doing just fine!!!
That'll show them...and they dragged their children down with them....brilliant.
There should be no reason for a fifth time.
And note that the very first time the heresy was broached was at VC II.
Amen!
If I had a nickel for every time I heard or read that the Catholic Church is in trouble, I’d have...a lot of nickels!
The gates of hell shall not prevail against the Catholic Church.
“That’ll show them...and they dragged their children down with them....brilliant. “
Uh, they left because the church rejected them.
The Germans seem fond of “solutions.”
I believe this is true as I have talked to a Catholic priest about this. One can file to have a marriage annulled, giving particulars about the marriage and the “ex” has to also do this, then those papers go to a group whose job it is to determine if the marriage can be annulled. It is my belief, if one is famous/rich, the annulment will happen. Plain, ordinary people, may or may not get the annulment. Be married for many years with children and grandchildren, as the Kennedys, still get the annulment.
Why is it Nancy Pelosi is definitely for abortion, and is still totally accepted by the Catholic Church of which she is a member? I don't hear of her not being able to take the sacrament and certainly hasn't been kicked out of the Catholic church.
There are strict Catholic rules for common people but not for the elite and that makes the Catholic church guilty of hypocrisy - they say this is the rule but not really for some.
I am a Catholic.
“...the church since Christ established it. Remember that He promised that He would be with her until the end of time and so far He is doing just fine!!!”
The church Christ is speaking of is HIS church composed of all believers in Him. This is not an earthly church but HIS heavenly church of believers.
Boy, are you going to be disappointed.
Funny how mortal men can decide to "annul" a marriage but claim that God can't be communed with by those who haven't had the experience doled out to them by some other flawed person (we are all flawed from the basest criminal to the highest Pope). I have trouble grasping the real intent and ramification here.
Good points. We shouldn't even be in this predicament.
"Are [those barred from Communion] also barred from Heaven or is it just used as a stigma like a big red "A" on their foreheads?"
No, they are not barred from Heaven (only God is a just judge on this); nor is it supposed to be a big red "A" on their foreheads. In fact, it needn't be known to any but themselves.
That "needn't be known" is a little difficult when, as is the very loose custom now, practically everybody --- including the scandalous Pelosi--- goes up for Communion whether they were well disposed spiritually or not. The optics are like a Chinese Fire Drill, and those who don't go can look visually isolated. I know that when I have judged myself unprepared for Communion (e.g. because I violated even the very nominal "fast") I have felt a tiny twinge as if somebody might notice and think, "What's with her? Is she in mortal sin?"
This is mitigated in parishes where people (even non-Christians) can get in the communion line and ask the priest for a blessing, rather than receive the Sacred Host. But as I understand it, not all parishes do it that way.
So why are the divorced-and-remarried turned away from Communion? For the simple reason that they have, by remarriage, publicly proclaimed that they are involved in an ongoing sexual union with a person not their spouse (the new "marital partner") which Jesus called, three different times, adultery (Matthew 19:9; Mark 10:11-122; Luke 16:18). Painful word. I didn't make that up, and no hierarch of the Catholic made that up. That is Christ's word,He used it repeatedly, and dang it all, we're stuck with it.
So to give people Communion when they're in an ongoing relation of sin, does severe harm in three ways:
(1 Cor 11:27-29) "So whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.
For he that eats and drinks, eat and drink condemnation unto himself, if he discern not the body."
So good pastoral care of the divorced-remarried couple, should include protecting them from bringing this curse upon themselves.
By the way, giving Communion to public, overt, unrepentant abortion-promoters and gay-marriage-promoters like Pelosi, Cuomo, and the rest of the apostate-Catholics, sends exactly the same message, and is horribly wrong for exactly the same reasons.
"Funny how mortal men can decide to "annul" a marriage..."
Well, would it be better for people to be trapped in a marriage which never was a marriage to begin with, because of some defect that rendered it void? What if a man married a woman and then found out "she" was a tranny? What if a woman married a man who deceived her and never intended an exclusive, faithful, lifelong marriage from the git-go? What if this was a very young couple, pushed into marriage via bribes and threats from their parents?
Those would not have been valid marriages to begin with: it is simple justice that there must be a tribunal which would examine the evidence, make the determination that there was no bond, and free the two to go forward with their lives not burdened with a false union.
"... but claim that God can't be communed with by those who haven't had the experience doled out to them by some other flawed person (we are all flawed from the basest criminal to the highest Pope). "
It's not a question, broadly speaking, of who can "commune" with God. Any sinner can make fruitful contact with God with every prayer of true contrition. If a person in a situation of mortal sin wants to "commune" sacramentally, the way to do it is to go to Confession --- that's the sacrament for them ---and from that time forward, abstain from adulterous acts.
I hope this explanation helps. If you have further questions, or even objections, please go ahead and ask me again.
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