A noted and well respected canon lawyer is again raising the alarm. If the Synod is over and orthodoxy prevailed and the pope will maintain orthodoxy, why the need to continue to defend orthodoxy on the issue of marriage, divorce and the Sacraments? https://canonlawblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/24/a-license-to-sin/ A license to sin There is, I fear, no end in sight of the nonsensical nonsense being unleashed in the wake of various high-level ecclesiastic dalliances with doctrinal ambiguity and disciplinary confusion in regard to holy Communion for divorced-and-remarried Catholics. Call it Life in this Valley of Tears. Anyway, Pope Francis is going to do about this whatever he is going to about it and the Church will respond to whatever he does in due course. For now, I simply write to urge caution about some proposals to facilitate irregular reception of the Sacrament in these cases even if such proposals are couched in apparently sophisticated scholarly terms. For example, an Australian theologian has proposed a rescript to be issued by a bishop in accord with norms supposedly to be devised by Pope Francis, granting permission for divorced-and-remarried Catholics to take holy Communion. The proposal includes impressive vocabulary such as “juridical” and “administrative” and “canons”; it sports footnotes to “assessors” and “salus animarum” and warns about “anomalies”; it underscores Church teaching on the permanence of marriage and assures readers that it offers no doctrinal or canonical changes to this teaching. Balderdash. Pure, unadulterated, balderdash. This proposed rescript is really a license to sin. More specifically, this rescript would (purport to) grant permission to ignore one sin (adultery) and to commit another (sacrilegious reception of holy Communion). It even manages to suggest a third sin (attempting sacramental Confession without firm purpose of amendment)! Couched in mellifluous pastoral, sacramental, and canonical language, to be issued on arch/diocesan letterhead, such a letter, expressly invoking Our Lord’s teaching on marriage and to be signed by a Successor of the Apostles in the name of Christ, who—I kid you not—congratulates the couple on their perseverance in allowing the Church to grant them this favor(!), would constitute, I suggest, a blasphemy (CCC 2148). As I and many others have said from the outset of this mess, holy Communion for divorced-and-remarried Catholics—except for those committed to living as brother-and-sister, and besides some (vanishingly rare, if correctly understood) ‘internal forum’ cases—cannot legitimately be approved unless marriage is not what Jesus plainly said it was, and/or adultery is not what Jesus plainly said it was, and/or the Eucharist is not what Jesus plainly said it was. Every attempt I’ve seen so far to prove otherwise rests on doctrinal and disciplinary interpretations so tortured they would make a Pharisee blush. If it matters, the article published in support of this proposed rescript is also a hodge-podge of amateur’s errors, including: claiming that mental instability (whatever exactly that is) is a “diriment impediment” to marriage; misreading Mitis to authorize its shorter process only in documentary cases; not realizing that “administrative” acts ARE “juridical” acts; dragging Canon 59 into a discussion of “privileges of the faith” cases; and so on. While some sentences are just funny (“Such administrative acts may address canonically irregular and practically messy situations in respect of which a moderated pastoral response is prudent”) others, such as the paragraph beginning “Such undesirable prospects…” are, well, I don’t know what they, except that most can mean a fantastically large number of things, and I don’t feel like guessing which points might be uppermost in the author’s mind. But it doesn’t really matter. The bottom line remains the bottom line: anyone who claims that holy Communion may be approved for divorced-and-remarried Catholics without repudiating one of the three fundamental assertions above simply does not know, or care, what he is talking about. I do not know how many ways there are left to re-state this point. Personally, I’ve about run out. Still, there is, I suppose, one way to secure holy Communion for divorced-and-remarried Catholics without attacking any of the fundamental assertions upon which the current prohibitory discipline rests: Simply refuse to defend the doctrine or, less obviously, just decline to enforce the discipline. Don’t change anything; just, you know, ignore certain things, like, say, Canons 915, 916, and 987 in light of, say, Canons 1055 and 1085. That approach is greatly to be feared.
Yes, her letters. Personal letters, from one person to another. I think we do a great disservice to her when her frank language is used to justify public floggings.
That approach is the same one the US has used in regards to immigration. The laws are there, but are basically trampled upon and therefore worthless.
That, for me, sums up the controversy in a few short paragraphs. I wish I had your ability to get the point across. Don't lose heart. Many of us share your concerns but don't have your ability to articulate them in such concise language.
Thanks Dolours, but that's an excerpt from the column of canonist Ed Peters' blog. He does a great job of explaining all this difficult canonical jargon.
He surely knows how to get to the nub of the matter. Thanks for posting it. It's something I will try to commit to memory rather than floundering around for the right words when confronted with the false mercy arguments.
The is the Kasper camp's response to Cardinal Sarah's superb defense of orthodox Catholicism during and after the Synod this fall. Kasper is known as "the pope's theologian" so it will be interesting to see how this compares to the pope's words in his visit to Africa. http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/11/26/german-bishops-site-accused-of-lazy-slander-against-church-in-africa German bishops’ site accused of ‘lazy slander’ against Church in Africa African Catholics 'accept simple answers to difficult questions', says editor of bishops' website The editor of the German bishops’ website has said that the Catholic Church continues to grow in Africa because of a lack of education and because Africans have nothing else in their life, according to First Things. Björn Odendahl, writing at Katholisch.de in an article entitled “The Romantic, Poor Church”, said: “So also in Africa. Of course the Church is growing there. It grows because the people are socially dependent and often have nothing else but their faith. “It grows because the educational situation there is on average at a rather low level and the people accept simple answers to difficult questions [of faith]. Answers like those that Cardinal Sarah of Guinea provides. “And even the growing number of priests is a result not only of missionary power but also a result of the fact that the priesthood is one of the few possibilities for social security on the dark continent,” Mr Odendahl wrote. Leroy Huizenga, writing at First Things, said: “It beggars belief that such a statement would appear on the conference’s official website, with its lazy slander of African Christians and priests as poor and uneducated.”
Well, maybe when the Pope is actually in a place where the Church is growing and gets the smell of sheep who aren't tainted with the smell of money and aren't surrounded by the trappings of money, he will see whose side Jesus would be on in this argument. I have been far more impressed with the first couple of days of the trip to Africa than I was by the media circus in the US. Trust the Holy Spirit to guide him.
I long for the days before (false) ecumenism ruled the moment. View attachment 3791 View attachment 3792
The Pope must be aware of how religion is being blamed for all the trouble in the world. Those who like to blame religion, deflecting from the secular powers fostering hatred and divisiveness, don't differentiate between religions. We're all "god botherers" to them. They particularly like to blame Catholics for a group of terrorists in the Central African Republic, ignoring the fact that this group formed in response to Islamic terrorists seizing power there. Many of the terrorists, being recent converts, reverted to their pagan roots after the atrocities carried out by the Islamists and now they show signs of being a mix of paganism and a superstitious type of Christianity. I think that the Pope is right in trying to put an end to inter-faith hatred and violence even if that means an over-emphasis on ecumenism. Better that than have young Africans being brainwashed by very powerful atheists into believing that all their woes are down to religion. By showing respect to other faiths, he is setting an example for people of other religions. Pray that his gestures bear some fruit by easing the suffering of Catholics in countries where they are in a minority and are true to the faith in the face of real persecution.
The Church esteems and respects all men, because they are made in the image and likeness of God. She does not esteem or respect false religions, because they contain error, which is fatal to the eternal life of men. And religious indifferentism is deadly.
Brian, are you reading too much into what the Pope is saying? He isn't saying that all religions are the same. Don't we Catholics hold that everyone who believes in a divine creator has some of the truth? Is it so very wrong to respect their having some of the Truth as a starting point to sharing with them the fullness of revealed Truth? What's the alternative to the way the Pope is handling these problems in Africa and other regions where Catholics are being persecuted?
In Africa thousands of Christians are being martyred by Islamists. I doubt that God esteems their religion and I doubt these butchers are interested in dialogue.
I agree. There are also millions of Christians living in areas where they rely on Muslim security forces for their safety and fear their thus-far peaceful Muslim neighbours turning against them. The Pope has to tread a fine line between strengthening the faith of the flock and saying something that can be twisted by the hate pedlars into justification for the Islamic extremism. Didn't that happen with Pope Benedict? The Pope needs our prayers and support. I have huge reservations with his lenient approach to the reformers in the West and time will tell whether he pulls them back from the brink. Africa is different. Compared to the Germans who are acting like recalcitrant teenagers claiming that they have a better slant on 2000 years of acknowledged Truth, sub-Saharan African Catholics are like toddlers depending on Holy Mother Church to guide and protect them in a world that would eat them alive given half a chance. I'm happy to give the Holy Father our support on this and trust that the Holy Spirit is guiding him. I think that's what Jesus would want us to do.
IMO God cannot possibly be pleased with Peter esteeming false religions, especially Islam. There must be better more Catholic ways to speak when in Africa. And despite the world rejecting BXVI's words at Regensburg, he was 100% correct and no good Catholic should apologize for the Truth he spoke there. es·teem əˈstēm/ noun 1. respect and admiration, typically for a person. "he was held in high esteem by colleagues" synonyms:respect, admiration,acclaim, approbation,appreciation, favor,recognition, honor,reverence; More verb 1. respect and admire. "many of these qualities are esteemed by managers" synonyms:respect, admire, value,regard, acclaim, appreciate,like, prize, treasure, favor,revere "such ceramics are highly esteemed"
1 Corinthians 9:19-23 Paul’s Use of His Freedom 19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
He swept the streets, but what drew him to my attention was his prayer beads which I saw him praying, it reminded me so much of my grandmother's He. like them, never stopped praying.....he was so very much like them,, but anyway my opinon of that guy, an African American..of Islam.... was, very, very high.. very Holy indeed... I have to say the Holy Father reminds me of that.. to be tolerent,, not to judge,,I did have a chance to talk to him a few times..so... I think you're being too harsh here, Brian..
