WE HAVE MOVED!
"And I beheld, and heard the voice of one eagle flying through the midst of heaven,
saying with a loud voice: Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth....
[Apocalypse (Revelation) 8:13]
Scola: Four Solutions for the Divorced and Remarried
Scola: Four Solutions for the Divorced and Remarried
And the fourth is the newest: to entrust the verification of the
validity of a marriage directly to the bishop or one of his delegates,
in a nonjudicial forum. With the archbishop of the Milan, there are now
ten cardinals who have taken the field against the ideas of
Kasper-Bergoglio
By Sandro Magister
ROME, September 22, 2014 – With the synod approaching, the clash between
supporters of change and defenders of the bimillennial doctrine and
practice of the Catholic Church in the matter of marriage is becoming
ever more heated.
The clash is being fought also and above all at
the highest levels of the hierarchy, among cardinals of the first rank.
In particular over the dilemma of whether or not to give sacramental
communion to divorced Catholics who have remarried civilly.
The
innovators have their combative leader in the German cardinal and
theologian Walter Kasper. No other cardinal has yet taken sides with him
publicly in a substantiated form. The only one who has promised to
support him has been Cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich, who
announced that he will bring a document to the synod signed by the
German bishops in favor of the change.
But it is no mystery that
Pope Francis is on Kasper’s side, although he has never publicly and
clearly stated what his thinking is, but has implied this with the
simple gesture of entrusting to Kasper the introductory presentation at
the consistory last February, a dry run for the upcoming synod, and of
“agreeing” with him - as Kasper himself revealed - on the proposals for
change contained in the presentation.
On the contrary, the
cardinals who have spoken out against Kasper’s ideas and in defense of
the traditional doctrine and practice are numerous and prominent.
Five
of these did so early on and repeatedly, most recently all together in a
book that is about to be published in the United States and Italy. They
are cardinals Gerhard L. Müller, prefect of the congregation for the
doctrine of the faith, Walter Brandmüller, Raymond L. Burke, Velasio De
Paolis, and Carlo Caffarra.
Another five cardinals have spoken
out in public and in a thoroughly developed form: the Spaniard Fernando
Sebastián Aguilar, Toronto archbishop Thomas Collins, the Australian
George Pell, prefect of the newly created secretariat for the economy in
the curia, the other Canadian, Marc Ouellet, prefect of the
congregation for bishops, and Milan archbishop Angelo Scola.
Pell made his remarks in the preface to a book that is also about to come out in the United States and Italy.
While
Ouellet and Scola have weighed in with two extensive articles in the
latest issue of the North American edition of “Communio,” the
international theological journal founded in the early 1970’s by Hans
Urs von Balthasar, Henri de Lubac, and Joseph Ratzinger.
Of these
ten cardinals, six will take part in the upcoming synod, specifically
cardinals Müller, Burke, Caffarra, Pell, Ouellet, Scola.
But
there will also be other cardinals at the synod who are solidly
established as defenders of tradition, like Péter Erdö, who will present
the general relation, Timothy M. Dolan, Willem Jacobus Eijk, Christoph
Schönborn, Angelo Amato, Mauro Piacenza, Elio Sgreccia, Angelo Bagnasco.
What
follows is a selection from the article that Cardinal Scola published
in “Communio,” and republished in the last issue of the Bologna-based
magazine “Il Regno.”
Of particular interest, in the selection,
are the solutions proposed for the problem of communion for the divorced
and remarried.
They are four proposals made in full continuity
with the traditional doctrine and practice on marriage, but not devoid
of innovative elements. Which concern:
- spiritual communion, or “of desire”;
- recourse to the sacrament of reconciliation even without absolution;
- sexual continence while remaining in the civil union;
-
the verification of the validity or invalidity of a marriage not only
by the diocesan tribunals or the Rota, but also with a more streamlined
nonjudicial canonical procedure under the supervision of the local
bishop.
This last new procedure is proposed by Cardinal Scola in
detailed form. It can be expected to find an attentive audience at the
synod.
With the same intention of “simplifying the procedure,
making it more streamlined,” Pope Francis instituted a special
commission last August 27 for the reform of canonical matrimonial
processes, with the warning of “safeguarding the principle of the
indissolubility of marriage.”
THE EUCHARIST, RECONCILIATION, AND DIVORCED AND REMARRIED PERSONS
by Angelo Scola
[…] What has just been said must be kept in mind when we address
sensitive topics involving particular suffering, such as the topic of
the divorced and remarried. Those who, after a failure of their marital
common life, have established a new bond are denied access to the
sacrament of Reconciliation and to the Eucharist.
Often the
Church is accused of lacking sensitivity and understanding with regard
to the phenomenon of the divorced and remarried without careful
reflection on the reasons for her position, which she acknowledges to be
based on divine revelation. Yet what is involved here is not an
arbitrary action of the Church’s Magisterium, but rather an awareness of
the inseparable bond uniting the Eucharist and marriage.
In
light of this intrinsic relation, it must be said that what impedes
access to sacramental Reconciliation and the Eucharist is not a single
sin, which can always be forgiven when the person repents and asks God
for pardon. What makes access to these sacraments impossible is, rather,
the state (condition of life) in which those who have established a new
bond find themselves: a state which in itself contradicts what is
signified by the bond between the Eucharist and marriage.
This
condition is one that needs to be changed in order to be able to
correspond to what is effected in these two sacraments. Non-admission to
eucharistic Communion invites these persons, without denying their pain
and their wound, to set out on a path toward a full communion that will
come about at the times and in the ways determined in light of God’s
will.
Beyond various interpretations of the praxis in the early
Church, which still do not seem to give evidence of actions
substantially different from those of the present day, the fact that she
increasingly developed an awareness of the fundamental bond between the
Eucharist and marriage signals the outcome of a journey made under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit, in much the same way as all the sacraments
of the Church and their discipline took shape over time.
This
helps us to understand why both "Familiaris consortio", and "Sacramentum
caritatis" confirmed “the Church’s practice, based on sacred Scripture
(cf. Mk 10:2–12), of not admitting the divorced and remarried to the
sacraments, since their state and their condition of life objectively
contradict the loving union of Christ and the Church signified and made
present in the Eucharist” (SC, 29).
In this perspective we should
mention two elements that must be studied in greater depth. Certainly
the Eucharist, on certain conditions, contains an aspect of forgiveness;
nevertheless it is not a sacrament of healing. The grace of the
eucharistic mystery effects the unity of the Church as the Bride and
Body of Christ, and this requires in the recipient of sacramental
Communion the objective possibility of allowing himself to be perfectly
incorporated into Christ.
At the same time we need to explain
much more clearly why the non-admission of those who have established a
new bond to the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist should
not be considered a “punishment” for their condition, but rather a sign
pointing the way to a possible path, with the help of God’s grace and
continued membership [immanenza] in the ecclesial community. For this
reason and for the good of all the faithful, every ecclesial community
is called to implement all the appropriate programs for the effective
participation of these persons in the life of the Church, while
respecting their concrete situation.
Forms of participation in the sacramental economy
The
life of these faithful does not cease to be a life called to holiness.
Extremely valuable in this regard are several gestures that traditional
spirituality has recommended as a support for those in situations that
do not permit them to approach the sacraments.
I am thinking,
first of all, about the value of spiritual communion, i.e., the practice
of communing with the eucharistic Christ in prayer, of offering to him
one’s desire for his Body and Blood, together with one’s sorrow over the
impediments to the fulfillment of that desire.
It is wrong to
think that this practice is extraneous to the Church’s sacramental
economy. In reality, so-called “spiritual communion” would make no sense
apart from that sacramental economy. It is a form of participation in
the Eucharist that is offered to all the faithful; and it is suited to
the journey of someone who finds himself in a certain state or
particular condition. If understood in this way, such a practice
reinforces the sense of the sacramental life.
An analogous
practice for the sacrament of Reconciliation could be proposed more
systematically. When it is not possible to receive sacramental
absolution, it will be useful to promote those practices that are
considered – also by sacred Scripture – particularly suited to
expressing penitence and the request for forgiveness, and to fostering
the virtue of repentance (cf. 1 Pt 4:7–9). I am thinking especially of
works of charity, reading the Word of God, and pilgrimages. When
appropriate, this could be accompanied by regular meetings with a priest
to discuss one’s faith journey. These gestures can express the desire
to change and to ask God for forgiveness while waiting for one’s
personal situation to develop in such a way as to allow one to approach
the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.
Finally,
drawing on my experience as a pastor, I would like to recall that it is
not impossible to propose to these faithful, on certain conditions and
with suitable follow-up, “the commitment to live in complete
continence,” as "St". John Paul II declared, “that is, to abstain from
those acts proper to spouses.” I can say, after many years of episcopal
ministry, that this is a path – involving sacrifice together with joy –
that God’s grace does in fact make feasible. I have had the opportunity
to readmit to sacramental communion divorced and remarried Catholics who
had arrived at such a decision after mature reflection.
Pastoral
experience also teaches us that these forms of participation in the
sacramental economy are not palliative. Rather, from the perspective of
conversion that is proper to Christian life, they are a constant source
of peace.
Cases of matrimonial nullity
In
conclusion, we must consider the situation of those who believe in
conscience that their marriage was invalid. What we have said thus far
about sexual difference and the intrinsic relation between marriage and
the Eucharist calls for careful reflection on the problems connected
with declarations of marital nullity. When the need presents itself and
the spouses request an annulment, it becomes essential to verify
rigorously whether the marriage was valid and therefore is indissoluble.
This
is not the occasion to repeat the fair recommendations that emerged in
the responses to the questionnaire presented in "Instrumentum laboris"
concerning the necessarily pastoral approach to this whole set of
problems. We know very well how difficult it is for the persons involved
to turn to their own past, which is marked by profound suffering. At
this level too we see the importance of conceiving of doctrine and canon
law as a unity.
Faith and the sacrament of matrimony
Among
the questions requiring further examination we should mention the
relation between faith and the sacrament of matrimony, which Benedict
XVI addressed several times, including at the end of his pontificate.
Indeed,
the relevance of faith to the validity of the sacrament is one of the
topics that the current cultural situation, especially in the West,
compels us to weigh very carefully. Today, at least in certain contexts,
it cannot be taken for granted that spouses who celebrate a wedding
intend “to do what the Church intends to do.” A lack of faith could lead
nowadays to the exclusion of the very goods of marriage. Although it is
impossible to pass final judgment on a person’s faith, we cannot deny
the necessity of a minimum of faith, without which the sacrament of
matrimony is invalid.
A suggestion
In
the second place, as "Instrumentum laboris" also makes clear, it is to
be hoped that some way might be found to expedite cases of nullity –
fully respecting all the necessary procedures – and to make the
intimately pastoral nature of these processes more evident.
Along
these lines, the upcoming extraordinary assembly could suggest that the
pope give a broader endorsement [valorizzare di più] to the ministry of
the bishop. Specifically, it could suggest that he examine the
feasibility of the proposal, which is no doubt complex, to create a
non-judicial canonical procedure which would have as its final arbiter
not a judge or a panel of judges, but rather the bishop or his delegate.
I
mean a procedure regulated by the law of the Church, with formal
methods of gathering and evaluating evidence. Examples of administrative
procedures currently provided for by canon law are the procedures for
the dissolution of a non-consummated marriage (canons 1697-1706), or for
reasons of faith (canons 1143-50), or also the penal administrative
procedures (canon 1720).
Hypothetically, one could explore
recourse to the following options: the presence in every diocese or in a
group of small dioceses of a counseling service for Catholics who have
doubts about the validity of their marriage. From there one could start a
canonical process for evaluating the validity of the bond, conducted by
a suitable appointee (with the help of qualified personnel like
notaries as required by canon law); this process would be rigorous in
gathering evidence, which would be forwarded to the bishop, together
with the opinion of the appointee himself, of the defender of the bond,
and of a person who is assisting the petitioner. The bishop (who may
also entrust this responsibility to another person with delegated
faculties) would be called on to decide whether or not the marriage is
null (he may consult several experts before giving his own opinion). It
would always be possible for either of the spouses to appeal that
decision to the Holy See.
This proposal is not meant as a gimmick
to resolve the delicate situation of divorced and remarried persons,
but rather intends to make clearer the connection between doctrine,
pastoral care, and canon law. […]
(Translated for "Communio" by Michael J. Miller)
- spiritual communion, or “of desire”;
ReplyDeleteOf these four "solutions," this is the best.
- recourse to the sacrament of reconciliation even without absolution;
To approach that sacrament without the intention of being absolved has got to be sacrilege; it mocks the sacrament just as much as a false confession would!
- sexual continence while remaining in the civil union;
There's still the sin of scandal, and this would only encourage it.
- the verification of the validity or invalidity of a marriage not only by the diocesan tribunals or the Rota, but also with a more streamlined nonjudicial canonical procedure under the supervision of the local bishop.
The annulment process as it's practiced is already "divorce for Catholics"! How much more "streamlined" could it be? A spouse can get an annulment even without the consent of the other spouse, and "immaturity" is often grounds for defective-consent annulments!
Now that these Modernists have destroyed the faith, all they have left to destroy is the natural law.
Domine, miserere nobis!