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.
Otherwise, yeah, it's nuts with whipped feigned Catholicism on top just like dealing with Pelosi and others who claim to be Catholic but who have publicly stated that they follow the same Self and Self Alone doctrine the anti-Catholic crew preaches.
Over the centuries, other than the few people who have been excommunicated...the Catholic church rejects NOONE...period.
well, that is the protestant point of view...and it is wrong....Christ established the Catholic church, not the church of what's happening now which happens to call itself Christian....and that's a fact.
“Over the centuries, other than the few people who have been excommunicated...the Catholic church rejects NOONE...period. “
The church refused to give them communion, so they considered that to be rejected and went somewhere else more welcoming and less hateful.
A person is denied Communion because they are living in a state of unrepenyant sin...adultry
Men don't annul a marriage...they investigate the conditions concerning the marriage and make a judgement as to whether or not it was properly entered into. Was one or the other previously married, are they related, were they physically able to consummate the marriage, were they both open to having children, were there and legal situations present which would prevent their union, were either of them coerced into the marriage....it is, or always should be, a simple judgement as to whether or not the marriage was properly conducted.
I gloss over NOTHING...in 2,000 years, there certainly have to be some questions raised about whatever...I merely stated that the church has handled EVERY ONE of the questions in accordance with biblical truth, time tested tradition, and interpretations which she has been given the authority by Christ to make.
I said: “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.”
You said: “well, that is the ‘protestant point of view...and it is wrong’....Christ established the Catholic church, not the church of what’s happening now which happens to call itself Christian....and that’s a fact.”
I said it and I’m a Catholic. Too bad you think only Catholics are His Church. At the time Christ comes to receive His Church in the air, including perhaps you, get ready to see ALL those who believe in Jesus Christ, in the air with you - Baptists/Presbyterians/Methodist, etc./non Denominational/and those in no formal church. All believers are the Bride of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said there are many mansions in heaven and I hope to at least qualify for a duplex. :o)
Don’t bother to try to argue with me because I don’t care what you think and won’t respond to you again. I have been a Bible student since I was a child. I find my Catholic friends are not too studied in the Bible.
If you know about it, it wasn't much of a clandestine situation was it???....hard to sneak when the world knows about it.
There was no photo of her, nor was her name revealed.
Next stupid question?
"divorced" and "remarried" people are living in a state of adultry....do you really think that the church should deny her teachings and grant them communion when they are intentionally violating Christ's admonition against addultry????
you say they left and went somewhere else less "hateful"...do you consider being concerned for someones eternal destiny is hateful???
you do not go through life changing Christ's teachings to suit your own needs and consider yourself justified........on the other hand, many on this thread do exactly that...PATHETIC
When someone spreads slander about a Bishop or the Pope, though, the anti-Catholic crowd and the "with friends like these" crowd take whatever negative trash the media spoon feeds them as absolute fact.
Got a recording of that phone conversation?
Why did you feel it necessary to pose the hypothetical situation in the first place....WHO CARES???
Uhhhhhh, then why did He establish the Catholic church and promise to be with her until the end of time???
was it so that individuals, over the years, could decide that they knew better than He did as to what Christianity meant...probably not.
The situation was not hypothetical. And by the fact that you don’t “care”, you sound like Hillary and Bengazi.
Since when have facts become slander?
Do you have a recording of Bergoglio or Lombardi denying the content of the phone call?
Sooner or later, folks being hosed realize the rain maker ain't what he claims to be.
As far as I'm concerned, see ya' later, "rain maker"
Mark 10 states it this way: 10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”
Is that the true stipulation - that the one who actually does the divorcing is the one committing adultery?
Luke is the only one who expanded the explanation, but one must consider it to be true.
Last question for this topic. How is adultery different than breaking any of the other commandments while living under the New Covenant? Jesus died for all our sins, past/present/future. God told us that when He made the New Covenant, He would: "...forgive your wickedness and recognize your sins no more". Why, if one can "prepare himself for Communion by going to Confession and repenting, even though he will be committing the same sins tomorrow and the next day, etc., why can one who is divorced and remarried also confess, do the prescribed rosaries, and receive Communion?
Thanks again for your penchant for politeness and patience when helping to explain my questions/sense of confliction with my personal beliefs.
If men don't annul marriage, how does their interaction/judgement result in it being nullified? How does their interaction at the ceremony cement a marriage in the first place? What is the difference in a marriage by the Justice of the Peace and one conducted by a priest if they both use the same phraseology? Isn't the true marriage conducted within the hearts of those being married?
“I gloss over NOTHING...”
... except glossing over your glossing over!
Perhaps if you repeat it louder with more CAPS.
My divorce left me with understating, first hand. Pelosi, Biden among others receiving communion also leaves me with an understanding. Do you understand?
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