The problem is that by referring to this as a church rule it is implied that as the church made the rule she can change it. The understanding that this is a consequence of church doctrine is lost. To speak of these as church rules puts them in the same category as the rules of golf or Roberts Rules of Order. They are in fact fundamentally different but that difference vanishes when the same term is applied to both.
By the very fact the CC has a rule I immediately know that is for good and true reasons. And ‘rules’ develop the same as doctrines develop, or rather, fruit comes from… In no circumstances, not ever, could Church rules be compared with golf! (except that they are both holey
). But for the sake of being exacting, maybe ‘rule’ can be misconstrued, so possibly *‘holy values and laws/rules/(?) set by Doctrine concerning the sanctity of life and faith and morals’ *might be better although a bit of a mouthful. Let us remember that there is also a difference between a Doctrine and a Dogma.No, there will not. Nor is such an approach “pastoral.”
Well, you might expect liberals and atheists, etc., to disbelieve us when we say it’s a matter of divine revelation. What’s telling is that they don’t believe that we believe it. They don’t just think they’re right, they think we know they’re right and are just refusing to admit as much. Which is galling.
Then what is the point of anyone even discussing it? It would seem if it was set in stone, no one would be setting up meetings to review it. IIf there are absolutely no amendments or even the slights "tweek"somewhere on this issue, I think you will see another wave of people leave the Church.
Of course you are correct - there can be change, or we would not see the Pope and Cardinals discuss the possibility of change. Even without changing any doctrine, the Church can change the way it deals with various pastoral issues, including divorce and remarriage. I think that we will see some change out of this synod, it may be small, but it needs to be real change that actually impacts the lives of parishioners. I remain hopeful that will happen.
Ah, and just who is it that is discussing this? We’ve heard from the media on this so we know they’re discussing it, and they are saying the pope and the bishops are discussing it, but most of the comments so far from the bishops are actually about the comments from the media.
Again, what makes you think that meetings have been set up to review it? This issue is pretty much set in stone and there isn’t much that can be done. Even Cardinal Kasper recognizes that.
You asked earlier what the point was in raising this issue. If you raise people’s expectations only to have them dashed it would be expected that some of them would react in anger and leave the church. What would you call people who successfully raise people’s expectations knowing that they cannot possibly be satisfied?
Jesus never said following him would be easy. Jesus set up the rules for marriage. The church is just following his teaching. A man and a woman married in the church are married for life. The church permits couples to separate if there is abuse or abandonment. However as long as that marriage is valid each spouse can not get remarried. A spouse who remarries without a finding of nullity is committing adultery. Adultery is a mortal sin, you can’t receive communion if you have committed a mortal sin.
It is the Pope that has called for the discussion, and the discussion is going on in the entire Church, but especially in the Synod. The Synod was not called just to discuss dealing with divorce and remarriage, but it is one of the issues to be discussed.
We now live in a society where we shouldn’t have to pay the consequences of our own actions.
That is possible.
Well, Gods mercy does outweigh His justice and it is good that this is highlighted as we live in the time of understanding to a greater extent about mercy rather than punishment. But the rest of your post is quite true in that this is what society has come to believe: a kind of thumb in the mouth, Goo-goo ga-ga, grab-me-the-bib, me me, existence.We now live in a society where we shouldn’t have to pay the consequences of our own actions.
We are victims of too many rules and too much rigidity.
God’s mercy far outweighs His justice.
The word “punish” has replaced the word “penance” in lay contemporary terms.
We want what we want for happiness sake, even though it might entail making a personal sacrifice. (Shudder at the thought!)
But God’s mercy can only be accessed through true *repentance *and that is the unpopular portion modern society leaves out.
I wouldn’t like to put God’s mercy in the same box I enter to gain the full extent of God’s mercy on those whom God is the Creator of too but do not know of His love or indeed have little or no knowledge of His existence. I don’t even want to comment on that but I see what you mean. We are forgiven through the Sacrament of reconciliation and have ‘access’ to His mercy. People don’t feel the need to be forgiven. But I think if people were completely without His mercy altogether they would probably cease to exist. I’m still going off the point you are making though.
…People want to do what they want without being answerable for their actions or to anyone - freedom without responsibility. The Sacraments shouldn’t be quibbled with because they are our expressions (amongst the life-saving aspects) of our awareness of our need of Him. Once that is taken away where are the measures.Lightweight?! From what angle? He’s not our grandfather he is our Holy Father. Some have dubbed him as ‘God’s Rottweiler’, apparently - no wishy-washy messing around. As Jesus did, He tries to do! And from what I gather, he succeeds.
I think the problem is exactly that - the media. I would go as far as to say that the media is responsible for far more problems in the world than what people put their way, or rather, the ones in the media with their own agendas are a big problem - but this is going off-thread. I think our Pope understates his intellect as he is focussed on ‘doing’. One could say that Pope B was and is a particularly scholarly man. They have all been great and will probably all end being made Saints. The media’s view always misses the holy aspects of any serious Catholic issue, and again they will certainly miss the point, maybe deliberately, in order to bring down the foundations of holy understanding. I think we can trust that our spiritual leaders will recognise everything as it is and not alter the holy dimensions of our faith. I don’t think they’ll alter anything that the media would regard as significant. What you say about real Catholic teaching is something that needs to be addressed with evangelisation. They have tried to begin tackling this with the ‘New Evangelisation’ mission, yet I suspect this is only the tip of the iceberg.
No, the pope called for the Synod on the Family; he did not instigate the call to reevaluate whether divorced and remarried people should receive communion for the simple reason that it is not possible.
It certainly will come up, and there might even be some marginal tweak, but those who have divorced and remarried without an annulment of the previous marriage will never be able to receive communion.
What do you think settled doctrine is if it is not written in stone? Do people really believe moral doctrines can be reversed?