An accompanying note from the Secretary of State, Cardinal Parolin, states “the Supreme Pontiff decreed that the two proceeding documents be promulgated through publication on the Vatican website and in Acta Apostolicae Sedis, as authentic Magisterium.”
As expected, the neo-conservative reactionaries have decried the actions of the Holy Father and engaged in a frantic and tortuous plethora of outcries that bemoning Pope Francis’ ways of doing things and the resulting confusion and uncertainty surrounding Amoris Laetitia and the manner in which the Pope desires that its merciful call for the pastoral care of the souls of those in invalid second marriages be implemented.
These self-proclaimed defenders of the Faith are well aware of Canon 8, Paragraph 1 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law: “Universal ecclesiastical laws are promulgated by publication in the official commentary Acta Apostolicae Sedis, unless some other manner of promulgation has been prescribed in particular cases.”
While most papal documents appearing in AAS lack canonical or disciplinary force, they are fully aware that the Pope's rescript at the hand of Cardinal Parolin explicitly gives the Buenos Aires Guidelines Magisterial authority in the interpretation of Amoris Laetitia.
Furthermore, they know full well and correctly that the Holy Father’s specific reference to "authentic Magisterium" clearly invokes the prescription of Canon 752 which thereby requires a "religious submission of the intellect and will" to the Buenos Aires Guidelines'.
Other Catholic conservatives are rallying behind Canon 915 which decrees: “Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion,”. They argue that, unless Canon 915 itself is directly revoked, gutted, or neutered, it binds ministers of holy Communion to withhold that Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion from, among others, divorced-and-remarried Catholics except where such couples live as brother-sister and without scandal to the community.
The first group of dissenters, who argue that any certain ecclesiastical disciplines are irreformable or indispensable, are willfully ignorant of the examples evident in both the Sacred Scriptures and throughout the history of the Church.
The simple reality is that no discipline is so long-standing and so thoroughly established in Church practice that it is irreformable. The Old Testament disciplines were established by Divine Revelation, and they stood for about 1500 years, until the Divine Teaching Ministry of Christ.
Let us recall when Jesus was confronted with the woman caught in adultery, He dispensed the Mosaic death penalty, changing Scriptural discipline very substantially. And yet, by so doing, He did not give any indication that He approved of adultery.
The laments of Cardinal Burke and the neo-conservative reactionaries who uplift and encourage his and their dissent notwithstanding, the fact remains: discipline is not doctrine.
Moreover, Jesus and the early Church after Him together did away with all of the Old Testament disciplines. None remain in force at all. However, this did not dispense or change any Old Testament teaching on faith or morals.
The New Testament gives us a better understanding of the fulfillment of the promise of faith and morals, but nothing truly taught by the Old Testament has been changed or negated by the New Testament.
When Jesus comes again, Church disciplines will pass away, just as the Old Testament disciplines passed away. There will be no Mass, no liturgical form, no Canon Law, no days of fasting, no holy days of obligation, no discipline at all. But of course the truths of faith, morals, and salvation will remain true forever.
But not only will all disciplines will eventually cease, all disciplines can change.
The length of time that a discipline has been in force does not deprive the Church of Her authority over that discipline. The Church has the full authority given to Her by Christ, and that authority cannot diminish with time or custom.
Peter and his successors, the Popes, hold the keys. When they open, no one can close. When they close, no one can open.
And to those who defend their dissent and irreverence by invoking the prescriptions of Canon 915, let me offer the following for their consideration.
Canon 915 can only rightfully be understood and applied with reference to Canon 916 which prescribes: “A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible.”
Canon 915 address matters in the “external forum” as it concerns a judgment of the Church and the minister of the Sacrament which prevents a person from reception of Communion. In addition, others “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin” are not to be permitted by ministers to receive.
But to the extent that Canon 915 concerns the “external forum” it is ineffective and unenforcible. For how can the minister of the Sacrament know at the moment of Holy Communion itself whether or not a person is objectively and subjectively “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin.”
For its part, Canon 916 addresses the “internal forum” and the recipient of the Sacrament. The individual who has a grave sin on his conscience is not to celebrate Mass (applies only to Priests and Bishops) or receive Communion (any Catholic) until he or she repents and confesses — unless there is a grave reason and no opportunity to confess. Both are needed. You can’t receive Communion merely because you had no opportunity to confess before that particular Mass. You also need a grave reason.
Pope Francis has indicated that the Church’s authentic Magisterium (contained in Amoris Laetitia and the Buenos Aires Guidelines) may consider that a person in an invalid marriage could have any number of grave reasons which would afford them no opportunity to confess and amend their marital situations.
And so, while not abrogating from Divine Law and in accord with the canonical precepts of the Church, Pope Francis has introduced disciplines which provide a compassionate approach to those in irregular marital situations.
In Part Three, I shall address the impact which the neo-conservative reactionaries are having upon the unity of the Catholic Faith and the burden of responsibility they bear for the confusion they seem hellbent on fomenting within the ranks of the Christian faithful.
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