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The German cardinal appears to backtrack on earlier comments in interview with EWTNCardinal Walter Kasper has clarified that Pope Francis did not approve his proposal to allow divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion after a period of penance. The cardinal made the remarks in an interview with EWTN during a visit to the United States. He said the Pope wanted him to “put the question”, and that afterwards he “expressed his satisfaction with my talk”. But he added: “I wouldn’t say he approved the proposal, no, no, no.” The remarks appear to represent a backtracking from earlier comments....

Religion News Service is reporting that: "Cardinal Walter Kasper, one of Pope Francis’ closest advisers, has sought to downplay the pontiff’s scathing critique of the Curia earlier this week. Kasper, who previously led the Vatican body responsible for promoting Christian unity, said the pope was asking the Curia, or Vatican administration, to examine their conscience in a bid to promote spiritual renewal. The German cardinal, joined by Argentine Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, said Francis was asking the Curia to set an example. 'The fundamental thing is he wants spiritual reform of the Curia,' Kasper told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera...

Walter Cardinal Kasper has been regarded in liberal circles as a profound theologian and an expert on ecumenism and Jewish-Catholic relations, as well as an authority on Vatican II. At the center of a recent storm of controversy over his views on the possibility of change concerning the doctrine of the Church on sexual morality, his views were unfortunately echoed by some other bishops at the recent Extraordinary Synod of Bishops in Rome. The result? Other cardinals and bishops were prompted to publicly denounce such attacks on Catholic teaching crying out, “Enough of this!” They referred to calls from Cardinal...

A Catholic journalist has published the audio recording of an interview with Cardinal Walter Kasper in which the German cardinal made controversial remarks about the contribution of African bishops at the family synod. Edward Pentin published the recording along with a full transcript and explanatory statement on his personal website yesterday.

If someone in Germany who is divorced and civilly remarried can receive Communion without being expected to change his lifestyle, why can’t someone in Africa who is “married” to two women do so as well?That’s the question that Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, the archbishop of Durban, South Africa, asked in a recent interview with Catholic News Service. Napier added that a better way forward for the Church than the recommendation made by the German Cardinal Walter Kasper is to recommend the traditional Christian practice of fortitude in the face of suffering; the carrying of the cross. “Jesus didn’t say ‘I want...

From the heart of a Jewish convert: An open letter to William Cardinal Keeler in response to "Reflections on Covenant and Mission" Ed. Reprinted with permission from This Rock, a magazine of Catholic Answers, Inc., P. O. Box 19000, San Diego, CA 92159 Phone: 1-619-387-7200; Web: www.catholic.com. This article was reprinted in "The Hebrew Catholic", #77, Fall 2002, pp. 20-23. Cardinal Keeler is the U.S. Catholic bishops’ moderator for Jewish relations. Dear Cardinal Keeler: I am grateful, your Eminence, that by issuing Reflections On Covenant and Mission (August 12) you have encouraged serious reflection by Jews and Catholics throughout the...