Sometimes, Divine Providence assures us that the inspirations of the Holy Spirit which come to us as a result of prayer and thoughtful reflection are true and correct.
I have had this experience in reference to a number of articles which I have posted to this blog.
Most recently, I have been commenting on the crisis developing and being witnessed in the widening disunity within the College of Bishops and between members of the College and the Holy Father, Pope Francis.
This disunity, which threatens both the essential definition and mission of the Church (the care and salvation of souls), has once again been affirmed by the controversy over the recent decision of the German Episcopal Conference to allow Bishops within the Conference to establish policies allowing Protestant spouses of Catholics to receive Holy Communion in individual cases.
Archbishop of Munich, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, President of the German Bishops Conference, announced that the great majority of the German bishops had approved an “orientation guide” with regard to mixed marriages and Holy Communion.
A precondition is that the Protestant partner “after a deep discernment in a spiritual conversation with a Priest or another pastoral worker comes to the decision of conscience to affirm the Faith of the Catholic Church, as well as to end a serious spiritual tension within the marriage as well as to fulfill a sincere desire and yearning for the Eucharist."
In making the announcement, Cardinal Marx praised this new orientation guide as “positive progress" following an “intensive debate” where “serious concerns” were raised. Moreover, he stressed that this pastoral initiative not a general admission, but a decision which is to be made in individual cases.
Cardinal Marx explained that it is now in the hands of each local bishop to establish policies with regard to this new pastoral orientation.
Pope Francis himself, in November of 2015, made some remarks that were understood to be an opening up to the idea of Protestant spouses receiving Holy Communion. The Pope told a Lutheran woman asking about receiving Communion with her Catholic husband to “go forward” guided by her individual conscience.
It will be difficult, if not impossible, to harmonize the Pope's counsel as well as this latest German initiative with the statements of Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship, who has emphasized that intercommunion with Protestants is impossible.
In the preface to his new book on the Eucharist, the Cardinal laments the reception of Holy Communion by those who do not profess Catholic faith as “sacrilegious” and an “outrage” against the Sacrament.
In reference to Pope Francis' 2015 comments on the subject, Cardinal Sarah stated: “Intercommunion is not permitted between Catholics and non-Catholics. You must confess the Catholic Faith. A non-Catholic cannot receive Communion. That is very, very clear. It’s not a matter of following your conscience.”
“It’s not a personal desire or a personal dialogue with Jesus that determines if I can receive Communion in the Catholic Church. How can I know that the Lord has really said: ‘Come and receive My Body.’ No. A person cannot decide if he is able to receive Communion. He has to have the rule of the Church: i.e., being a Catholic, being in a state of grace, and properly married.”
The statements of the Pope and the German Bishops and those of Cardinal Sarah are not different viewpoints. They are contradictions.
And contradictions simply cannot exist simultaneously within the Oneness of the Catholic Faith.
Once again, my concern that the Church finds itself in a state of de facto schism appears to have been affirmed in this latest critical division among the Bishops themselves and between some members of the College and the Vicar of Christ.
We are left to pray to the Holy Spirit to help the Church, especially its leadership, to rediscover unity and harmony in the profession of the Catholic Faith.
The future of the Church depends on this.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle within us the fire of Your Love.
No comments:
Post a Comment