Cardinal: German bishops support allowing some remarried Catholics to receive communion

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BERLIN – The head of the German Bishops’ Conference says German bishops support allowing divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive communion “under certain conditions.”
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Church teaching holds that, without an annulment of the first marriage, such Catholics are living in sin and thus ineligible to receive communion. Pope Francis has sought to end what he calls “de facto excommunication” for those Catholics but conservative bishops oppose change.
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Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the head of the German Bishops’ Conference, said in a statement issued Monday that the German bishops favor “differentiated solutions that do justice to the individual case and under certain conditions allow admission to the sacraments.”
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foxnews.com/world/2014/12/22/cardinal-german-bishops-support-allowing-some-remarried-catholics-to-receive/
 
Curious coincidence that this urgent pastoral need is most urgent in a country where the bishops receive tax money from those registered as catholics and lose it when said catholics want to remarry and are rebuffed by Christ’s own words and get andry and change their official government religious status.

Personally, I think it’s best to stick with Jesus’ own teachings rather than the opinions of bishops who have unbelieving flocks (almost nobody in Europe shows up for mass on Sunday, much less the LESS convenient aspects of catholic life…).

Also curious that those who merely believe that Jesus’ words should speak for themselves when they are so clear are now labeled as “conservative” or even “reactionary” in media accounts. Years ago, I noticed that the new definition of “fundamentalist” in media accounts had become “anyone who actually believes what their religion teaches.”
 
Maybe the German bishops feel like they are under pressure because their church is so rich and prosperous yet they are loosing members, church goers, and have done nothing to stop the secular culture developing in southern and western Germany. Maybe they feel that these liberal outreaches will work to reverse these changes and they are pushing them because they feel the financial security and prestige of the church in Germany will be threatened soon if nothing is changed quickly or else they will face a Czech like situation. It might be none of that but I think its important to remember that a lot of the agendas that certain bishop conferences have should be looked at how much they are really about that particular countries situation compared to the well being of the church as a whole.
 
People are given Communion when they are in a state of grace, but if a divorced and remarried person continues in their remarried relationship, not living as brother and sister, how can they be in a state of grace to receive Communion?

What may be a side effect of allowing divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion would be that some divorced Catholics may see remarriage as more of an option. If they see Catholics who are divorced and remarried receiving Communion, in whatever special circumstance they may be, they will see that and that could undermine the indissolubility of marriage. You don’t have to change Church doctrine to change peoples perceptions of things just by a change in ‘pastoral practice.’ It could also breed resentment and/or sadness and/or frustration. If divorced Catholics who are trying to stand by traditional Church doctrine and not remarry see other Catholics who are divorced and remarried receiving Communion, how will they feel?

I did not quote this perfectly, but this is what Fr Robert Dodaro said in an interview:
If people are told divorced and civilly remarried Catholics will be admitted to Holy Communion then this is how its going to play out; a young couple will go to their Parish Priest and say well we want to be married. ‘Well that’s great, we have to do some marriage preparation but that’s great.’ And he gets somebody in his Parish to organise something, and they are to told during this, very sincerely they are told, now remember, marriage us pet ant, it’s forever, it’s till death do we part, and you have to mean those words. You can never… Marriage will be tough, you’ll have difficulties, you’ll have struggles, but you never divorce because your marriage takes place in Christ, your bond is in Christ, so you can’t ever renounce it, you can’t ever leave behind and marry another person. Alright, the couple are stunned by this, they listen carefully, ‘Yes Father, yes Father.’ On the way home the young man says to his girlfriend, ‘my parents are divorced and remarried and receive Communion, what’s the big deal?’ The indissoubility of marriage is over.
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m.youtube.com/watch?list=PL0B89A05F9F6D3E47&v=CTCKIEHtnlk
 
_Abyssinia said:
People are given Communion when they are in a state of grace, but if a divorced and remarried person continues in their remarried relationship, not living as brother and sister, how can they be in a state of grace to receive Communion?
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The same applies for any couple living together without the graces of sacramental Matrimony.

But, as manualman notes, and I’m suspecting he’s right, tax money of the remarried state may be a motivating factor for the support of stated position.
 
ProVobis said:
The same applies for any couple living together without the graces of sacramental Matrimony.

But, as manualman notes, and I’m suspecting he’s right, tax money of the remarried state may be a motivating factor for the support of stated position.
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Well people cohabiting shouldn’t receive communion either if they know they are committing a mortal sin.
 
cena said:
Well people cohabiting shouldn’t receive communion either if they know they are committing a mortal sin.
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True. Couples who don’t live together are not cut off from the sacraments, unless for reasons of excommunication and such.
 
manualman said:
Curious coincidence that this urgent pastoral need is most urgent in a country where the bishops receive tax money from those registered as catholics and lose it when said catholics want to remarry and are rebuffed by Christ’s own words and get andry and change their official government religious status.

Personally, I think it’s best to stick with Jesus’ own teachings rather than the opinions of bishops who have unbelieving flocks (almost nobody in Europe shows up for mass on Sunday, much less the LESS convenient aspects of catholic life…).

Also curious that those who merely believe that Jesus’ words should speak for themselves when they are so clear are now labeled as “conservative” or even “reactionary” in media accounts. Years ago, I noticed that the new definition of “fundamentalist” in media accounts had become “anyone who actually believes what their religion teaches.”
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It’s not too hard to connect the dots.

It’s especially funny that these same Bishops want to deny Communion and even Reconciliation to those who refuse to pay the Church Tax.
 
SWolf said:
It’s not too hard to connect the dots.

It’s especially funny that these same Bishops want to deny Communion and even Reconciliation to those who refuse to pay the Church Tax.
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Why is it always Germany?
 
SWolf said:
It’s not too hard to connect the dots.

It’s especially funny that these same Bishops want to deny Communion and even Reconciliation to those who refuse to pay the Church Tax.
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In order to avoid the tax one must state that one is no longer a Catholic. That would seem to forbid them the Sacraments.

I think there is an old adage about following the money trail. 😉

From what I can see the German bishops are heavily dependent on the tax for their income. Many, who are refused the sacraments because of divorce and remarriage, are so stating. By admitting them to the sacraments they bishops hope to retain them and their tax. This sounds like selling the sacraments.😦

I think there is an old adage about following the money trail. 😉
 
It is not necessary to be as cynical as posters herein to wonder why the German bishops have this issue on the table; one only has to assume, in charity, that they are truly bishops and truly desire to bring people back to the Faith. Assuming to judge their motivations is taking on a task that most of us are not equipped for, and charity appears to be in short supply herein.
 
otjm said:
It is not necessary to be as cynical as posters herein to wonder why the German bishops have this issue on the table; one only has to assume, in charity, that they are truly bishops and truly desire to bring people back to the Faith. Assuming to judge their motivations is taking on a task that most of us are not equipped for, and charity appears to be in short supply herein.
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When Pope Francis was a Cardinal, he said for the book Heaven and Earth:
Catholic doctrine reminds its divorced members who have remarried that they are not excommunicated — even though they live in a situation on the margin of what indissolubility of marriage and the sacrament of marriage require of them — and they are asked to integrate into the parish life
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ncregister.com/daily-news/pope-francis-desires-to-draw-remarried-people-to-christ#ixzz3Mfh150Xg

What the German Bishops, and other Clergy who support Communion for the divorced and remarried, because it is not just Germans, is to find more ways for the divorced and civilly remarried to integrate into the Church, and that should be done without going down the Communion route.
 
_Abyssinia said:
When Pope Francis was a Cardinal, he said for the book Heaven and Earth:

ncregister.com/daily-news/pope-francis-desires-to-draw-remarried-people-to-christ#ixzz3Mfh150Xg

What the German Bishops, and other Clergy who support Communion for the divorced and remarried, because it is not just Germans, is to find more ways for the divorced and civilly remarried to integrate into the Church, and that should be done without going down the Communion route.
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I am not promoting the German bishops’ position - that will sort itself out in the synod, and Pope Francis’ final decision. Having been surprised more than once by Church decisions, I am willing to let the Church make that decision.

However, my comment was not one of supporting the German bishops’ position; it was directed to the cynicism that their issue is driven by money.
 
ProVobis said:
True. Couples who don’t live together are not cut off from the sacraments, unless for reasons of excommunication and such.
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Well they shouldn’t go to communion if they know it’s a mortal sin. That would be sacrilege.
 
otjm said:
I am not promoting the German bishops’ position - that will sort itself out in the synod, and Pope Francis’ final decision. Having been surprised more than once by Church decisions, I am willing to let the Church make that decision.

However, my comment was not one of supporting the German bishops’ position; it was directed to the cynicism that their issue is driven by money.
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The Church has already made the decision in the past about what they think about divorce and remarriage

Can. 7. If anyone says that the Church errs in that she taught and teaches that in accordance with evangelical and apostolic doctrine the bond of matrimony cannot be dissolved by reason of adultery on the part of one of the parties, and that both, or even the innocent party who gave no occasion for adultery, cannot contract another marriage during the lifetime of the other, and that he is guilty of adultery who, having put away the adulteress, shall marry another, and she also who, having put away the adulterer, shall marry another,[13] let him be anathema.

ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/TRENT24.HTM

Saying it’s okay for divorce and remarriage couples to receive communion is going against doctrine and is a sacrilege.
 
cena said:
Well they shouldn’t go to communion if they know it’s a mortal sin. That would be sacrilege.
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Okay, but my use of the word “sacraments” covers both confession and communion. People who commit mortal sin go to confession before they receive. People who cohabit, with or without civil marriage, basically have cut themselves off from confession and therefore communion as well.
 
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