Lifesite News claims: "Bishop apologizes to unrepentant adulterers, invites them back to the sacraments "

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What the bishop actually seems to have said to these couples is that he is sorry for ignoring them and for possible judgmental attitudes they experienced from clergy or other Catholics (which is perfectly illustrated by Lifesite assuming they are all “unrepentant adulterers”), and he invited them to a meeting to discuss the possibility of them perhaps reconciling with the Church.

Lifesite makes it sound like he invited them all to come receive Holy Communion right now.

As usual, a distortion that makes it difficult to take Lifesite and its tiresome perpetual outrage seriously.
 
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“For a long time, we have also said that you could not be fully admitted to the sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist, while in many of you there was a desire to be sustained by the gift of the sacraments and by the warmth and affection of a community.”

“In this we have become rigid in a very formal vision of the family situations you are in,”

Assumimg they don’t lie, these are his words.
 
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So do you see this as calling to the people he addressing to repent and seek forgiveness for sin?
 
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Sure, he discussed them embarking on “an ecclesial journey of reconciliation”.
I presume it means they go to the sacrament of Reconciliation as part of that.

It sounds to me like he is going to be looking at their individual situations in a kind manner and trying to figure out some way forward in view of AL.

I’m not sure why us in some other country are all worried about a bishop trying to bring people in his own diocese back to the Church. That’s what bishops are supposed to do.
 
The real life circumstances draw on so many difficult questions for a priest. I have to admit the unfortunate informal tradition of “Accusatory” in the article is distasteful.
How does a modern priest address the tax collector and the promise of table fellowship? The leaving of the 99 for the one. What if the sick have “issue” of a second Union?
Jesus visits to the sick were events in which he conveyed the healing message that God loves you , to people incapable of believing it. To people who had judged themselves unworthy and abandoned. In silent despair.
It seems to me Pope Francis understands Jesus pastoral practice administering to the sick quite insightfully. That place of UNWORTHINESS and despair is way to deep a hole for many to climb out of. RIGHT THEN, you pose a challenge that is beyond the spiritual aptitude and strenth. (Especially with righteous stone throwers of pristine orthodoxy constantly shovelling).
I wonder if mercy and empathy are the best answer. I tend to think it can be to at least give a person the tools necessary to get back on the path.
 
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Well, if true, it’s a start, at least.
 
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About two decades ago, when they first started out and reported almost exclusively on pro life topics, they weren’t sensationalizing things and weren’t out in left field. And I would say they were fairly reliable in what they reported.

But that soon changed.
 
Exactly, here’s the whole letter for people triggered by Lifesite (even if one does not agree with their editorializing, they do usually provide the original source accurately).

www.amicodelpopolo.it

Lettera del Vescovo ai coniugi separati e divorziati

"Una parola da confidarvi: Scusate!". Invito al Centro Papa Luciani per domenica 1 dicembre.
www.amicodelpopolo.it www.amicodelpopolo.it

The fact is, this bishop apologizes for rigidly denying divorced and “remarried” people–that is, those in a state of adultery–the sacraments. Those who are repentant (including the firm resolution to go and sin no more) have never been denied the sacraments. So the only people he could possible be talking about is those that are lacking this firm resolution.

As harsh as the Lifesite headline might sound, it does appear accurate, despite the bishop trying to phrase his words in a way that better scratches itching ears.
 
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So when somebody shows up on the forum explaining a long sad story of irregular marriage causing them to be away from the Church and asking if there’s any chance they could be readmitted to the sacraments, we should say, "Greetings, unrepentant adulterer! Talk to your priest. " Because it’s factually accurate.

Lifesite is only interested in fomenting outrage, not in the human factors behind individual, personal situations.
 
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No, we should never presume definitive unrepentance. We should, instead help someone toward repentance so that they may receive the sacraments. In fact, this is what the Church has always done. There is already and always has been a way for those willing to repent to receive the sacraments of penance and the eucharist.

If the bishop had such folks in mind, then he would have no need to apologize. Rather, he specifically apologizes for denying people the sacraments based on a “rigid” and “formal” view of the family. Again, only those who were unrepentant and unwilling to amend their lives have heretofore been denied the sacraments.

It is this bishop who is judgmentally presuming their unwillingness to repent, rather than giving than the presumption that their hearts will be open to the grace of repentance before receiving the sacraments like the Church has always done. He is the one who presumes the hardness of their hearts (hardness of heart is why Moses also tolerated divorce and remarriage, according to Jesus–that is where Jesus says the bad rigidity is).

Jesus calls us to something better.
 
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That letter sounds like a pastoral and tactful call to conversion to me, an invitation to take a first step back to the Church, not like a “let’s absolve and commune every single unrepentant adulterer out there.”
 
Maybe not. But, what news is it to us? It is a problem that should be addressed in that Archdiocese. For us, it is only a potential source of gossip, detraction or even calumny. Really.

All of the Bishops need prayer. Every day.
 
Even before I opened this thread, the sensational headline told me “LifeSite.” Enough said.
 
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Genesis315 said:
If the bishop had such folks in mind, then he would have no need to apologize.
Click to expand...
Sure he would, because he is apologizing not just on his own behalf, but for the Lifesites of the world, which are often downright cruel.

These people feel hurt. The bishop is being kind and pastoral. There is no reason to try to justify a hurtful, rabble-rousing article by saying, “Well, technically they ARE unrepentant adulterers.”
 
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