Bishop Benno Elbs, who heads the Feldkirch diocese in west Austria has claimed that "remarried" Catholics now have the "blessing of the Pope" to receive Communion, the use of contraception is "a decision of conscience" for couples, and homosexuals can constitute a "family."
Regarding the admission of “remarried” divorced Catholics to Communion, Bishop Elbs stated: “The teaching [of the Church] has changed insofar as she has opened the door. People have made decisions of conscience in the past, but now they can do it – so to say – with the blessing of the Pope. That is an essential progress.”
Asked about the tensions during the Synod for the Family in 2015, the Bishop indicated that German Bishops had a huge influence on the discussion. The group included Cardinal Walter Kasper and was led by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, strong proponents of the proposal to admit divorced and remarried to Communion.
He added that the admission to Communion of those in question is now irreversible. “That has been in the pastoral praxis for quite some time. Even theologically. Now we should not make the mistake of inventing new rules. The progress is an attitude that surpasses norms.”
As to why the Synod did not allow artificial contraception, the bishop answered: “The Synod paper recommends natural methods of regulating conception. Recommends. Ultimately, the manner by a decision is made concerning the regulation of conception is a decision of which belongs to the conscience of the couple.”
With regard to homosexuals, Elbs defines family as “a place where people are raised, grow up, become strong, where they learn, what they need for life.” This same definition, according to the Bishop, also holds true for homosexual unions.
Bishop Elbs has authored a book translated from the German, Where the Soul Learns to Breathe: A New Vision of Marriage and Family with Pope Francis, which he published in 2016.
In the book, the Bishop moves beyond the Church's teaching, elaborated in Pope St. John Paul II's encyclical Veritatis Splendor, that the conscience can be malformed or ignorant and that the Church’s teaching is precisely the “compass” that guides the conscience in decision making.
He refers to The Catechism of the Catholic Church which states: “Moral conscience present at the heart of the person, enjoins him at the appropriate moment to do good and to avoid evil. It also judges particular choices, approving those that are good and denouncing those that are evil. It bears witness to the authority of truth in reference to the supreme Good to which the human person is drawn, and it welcomes the commandments. When he listens to his conscience, the prudent man can hear God speaking.” (Paragraph 2777)
With each passing day, it becomes clearer that tensions within the hierarchy of the Church are intensifying as more conservative Bishops and more liberal Bishops are taking public positions regarding practical consequences on pastoral care disciplines which flow from Amoris Laetitia.
How these tensions will finally be resolved remains to be seen. 2017 promises to be a very interesting year for the Church indeed.
May the Holy Father and all the Bishops seek the intervention of the Holy Spirit as they work together with good will and concern for those entrusted to their care in the proclamation of the wisdom and truth of the Gospel.
Come, Holy Spirit, enlighten our minds and kindle within us the fire of Your Love.
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