Posted on 12/29/2015 10:03:40 AM PST by ebb tide
ROME â Pope Francis celebrated a Mass for the Holy Family on Sunday, designed as a reminder of the spiritual and pastoral importance of the family in the context of his Holy Year of Mercy. Plans called for similar Masses to be held around the world in basilicas where thereâs a holy door for the jubilee year.
âLet us not lose confidence in the family!â Francis said, telling families gathered with him in St. Peterâs Basilica that the world and the Church need them ânow more than ever.â
In terms of Church politics, however, Sundayâs Mass was also a reminder that weâre on a countdown to perhaps the biggest decision of Francisâ papacy, on a question that arises directly from his two recent Synods of Bishops on the family.
Sometime soon, Francis is expected to issue his own conclusions on the synods in the form of a document, technically known as an âapostolic exhortation.â Veteran Italian Vatican writer Marco Tosatti recently reported that the document could appear as early as February, while others suggest a March release date, perhaps tied to the feast of St. Joseph on March 19.
On Sunday, the official newspaper of the Italian bishopsâ conference restricted itself to saying the document is expected âin the spring.â
While the two synods, one held in October 2014 and the other this past October, touched on a wide variety of topics, by far the single most contested question was that of whether to allow divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion. Itâs become a key test of exactly how far Francis is willing to go in terms of rethinking traditional Catholic teaching and practice.
Itâs telling that after two synods debated the issue at length, agonizing over every comma in concluding language on the subject, itâs now a matter of controversy exactly what that language meant.
In November, the Rev. Antonio Spadaro, a Jesuit known to be close to Pope Francis, published an article in La Civiltà Cattolica saying that the 2015 bishopsâ summit âlaid the basis for access to the sacraments, opening a door that had remained closed in the preceding synod.â
That claim raised eyebrows, in part because the Jesuit-edited Civiltà Cattolica enjoys a semi-official status in the Vatican and is reviewed prior to publication, in part because Spadaro is rumored to be among an informal group advising Pope Francis on his document.
In response, several figures who took part in the synods and who were part of the opposition to the idea of opening Communion to the divorced and remarried, such as Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea and Cardinal George Pell of Australia, insisted that they had decided no such thing.
They noted, for instance, that the word âCommunionâ and the phrase âaccess to the sacramentsâ donât even appear in the final document of the 2015 synod, which was clearly crafted as a compromise text.
Given the contrasting positions, the ball is clearly now in Francisâ court. Logically speaking, he would seem to have four possibilities:
1. A clear âyesâ to Communion for the divorced and remarried, even if it would require some discernment in individual cases. 2. A clear âno,â while still stressing that divorced and civilly remarried believers remain part of the Church and can participate in its life in various other ways. 3. A call for more study and reflection, saying that the time isnât right to make a decision. 4. Decentralizing the question to some extent by offering broad guidelines and then encouraging local bishops to make decisions. Tosatti believes that Francis will choose door No. 4, using language that wonât be seen as a clear win for the âyesâ camp associated with German Cardinal Walter Kasper, but which will encourage greater latitude for local bishops.
âSources speak of a âmagmaticâ document,â Tosatti wrote on Dec. 17, âwith advice and the possibility for bishops to make case-by-case decisions in individual situations. In substance, thatâs a reiteration of the current discipline in the examination of individual cases, with a greater emphasis on the role of the bishop.â
The touchstone would likely still be Pope John Paul IIâs 1981 document Familiaris Consortio, which followed an earlier synod on the family and laid down the following standard on admission to Communion in paragraph 84:
Reconciliation in the sacrament of Penance which would open the way to the Eucharist, can only be granted to those who, repenting of having broken the sign of the Covenant and of fidelity to Christ, are sincerely ready to undertake a way of life that is no longer in contradiction to the indissolubility of marriage. This means, in practice, that when, for serious reasons, such as for example the childrenâs upbringing, a man and a woman cannot satisfy the obligation to separate, they âtake on themselves the duty to live in complete continence, that is, by abstinence from the acts proper to married couples.â
However, Francis could provide greater scope for whatâs known as an âinternal forumâ solution, which basically means that pastors and bishops could work with people in a second relationship to reach a private decision in conscience that they meet the requirements for Communion, even if they donât fully meet the requirements in Familiaris Consortio.
A widely read Italian blog set up as an observer of the synod process suggested recently that if this is, indeed, where Francis comes down, the document may give rise to âcontrasting interpretations,â meaning some bishops could give it a minimalist reading and others could be more permissive.
Whatever Francis may be planning, he didnât tip his hand on Sunday.
The pontiff devoted his brief homily to extolling the family as a âdomestic pilgrimage,â saying that in the context of the special jubilee Holy Year of Mercy, itâs âinside the family where one learns to forgive.â
The pope urged families to practice simple expressions of the faith together, such as tracing the Sign of the Cross on the foreheads of children at the beginning of the day, and praying together before meals.
Reflecting on the Gospel story of the child Jesus abandoning his parents on a visit to the temple, Francis said that although the Bible doesnât say so, âwe can imagineâ that Jesus later had to ask their forgiveness.
âOpportunities for growth by asking forgiveness also make up part of the pilgrimage of the family,â Francis said.
The Mass for the Holy Family formed another stop on a busy holiday itinerary for the pontiff.
On New Yearâs Eve, Francis will preside over a vespers service, and on New Yearâs Day, heâll celebrate a Mass in the morning in honor of the Virgin Mary. That afternoon, heâll head across town to Romeâs Basilica of St. Mary Major to open a holy door for the special jubilee Year of Mercy.
On Jan. 6, Francis will close the traditional holiday season with a Mass for the feast of the Epiphany, marking the revelation of Christ as the Son of God when he was visited by the three magi, or âwise men.â
I’m afraid the vast majority of Cardinals come from leftist socialist countries that are still hiding all their homosexual pedophiles.
Think of them like the GOPe, they would entertain Satan perhaps in exchange of maintaining wealth and power...and the children.
Our Catholic leaders need the same shake up as the Republican leaders do.
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