The Upcoming Synod

If the upcoming synod veers from the truths of our Catholic faith, God will not be mocked. Perhaps if things go array and start dancing with dissent on church teachings our Lord will allow war or another game changer to dismantle any new teaching that would allow divorce and remarriage without going through an annulment process. This synod makes me nervous for our faith and its unity. Perhaps the Holy Spirit will lead this synod, but human ego could just as easily set the stage.

Pope Francis’ sermon for the canonization: Next stop, Synod: http://wdtprs.com/blog/2014/04/pope-francis-sermon-for-the-canonization/

 

Vatican to debate teachings on divorce, birth control, gay unions

Pope Francis meets with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, left, at the Vatican. On the pontiff's orders, the Vatican will convene a meeting of senior clerics this fall to reexamine church teachings that touch the most intimate aspects of people's lives. (Vincenzo Pinto / AFP/Getty Images / April 26, 2014)


Henry Chu
April 30, 2014, 5:00 a.m.


Reporting from Vatican City—
Contraception, cohabitation, divorce, remarriage and same-sex unions: They're issues that pain and puzzle Roman Catholics who want to be true to both their church and themselves.

Now those issues are about to be put up for debate by their leader, a man who appears determined to push boundaries and effect change.

On Pope Francis' orders, the Vatican will convene an urgent meeting of senior clerics this fall to reexamine church teachings that touch the most intimate aspects of people's lives. Billed as an "extraordinary" assembly of bishops, the gathering could herald a new approach by the church to the sensitive topics.

The run-up to the synod has been extraordinary in itself, a departure from usual practice that some say is a mark of the pope's radical new leadership style, and a canny tactic to defuse dissent over potential reforms.

Within a few months of his election last year, Francis directed every diocese in the world to survey local attitudes on family and relationships and report back to the Vatican, a canvassing of a sort that few of the faithful can recall previously. The results are being tallied and synthesized behind the walls of the Vatican.

The exercise reflects Francis' desire for less centralized and more responsive decision-making, mirroring his own self-described evolution from a rigid, authoritarian leader as a young man into one who consults and empathizes. His training as a Jesuit has taught the pope to cast as wide a net for information as possible, analysts say.

Taking the public temperature also brings tactical advantages. Nobody at the Vatican will be surprised to learn that vast numbers of Catholics disobey its ban on premarital sex and birth control, or that some are in gay partnerships. Setting down those realities irrefutably on paper, however, could strengthen a bid by Francis to soften the church's official line and put pressure on bishops inclined to resist, including some in the United States and many in Asia and Africa, conservative areas where the church has been growing.

"It is telling the pope and the Vatican what they already know. But it's what the Vatican in the past has not wanted to hear," author and Vatican expert John Thavis said.

"It's strategic, but it's also a genuine effort to find out what the voice of the church really is on this," Thavis said. "It's very much Pope Francis who wants less of a top-down model — the bishops preaching the rules and doctrine down to the faithful — and more of a dialogue."

Hardly anyone expects the pope to propose sweeping changes to Catholic doctrine at the synod in October despite widespread criticism that the modern world has left the church behind. Indeed, Francis has unequivocally upheld heterosexual marriage and procreation as God's established, sanctified ideal.

But liberal reformers have been excited by the Vatican's shift in tone under Francis. His remark regarding gays, "Who am I to judge?" has gone viral, as has his warning to the church not to obsess over "small-minded rules" and contentious subjects such as abortion.

So, although Francis almost certainly will not call for ditching the church's policy of denying communion to Catholics who have divorced and remarried, his emphasis on pastoral care and compassion could offer local priests a work-around, with greater flexibility to address individual circumstances. That would fit with the pope's vision of the church as a "field hospital" that triages people's spiritual wounds rather than aggravates them.

Likewise, Thavis said, Francis has hinted that same-sex unions, though not "marriage," could serve a practical purpose, if not a sacred one, by legally protecting the children of such relationships. This month, in an event that made headlines, the infant daughter of a lesbian couple was baptized in a cathedral in Francis' native Argentina, apparently with the Holy See's tacit assent.

"When he was cardinal in Buenos Aires, he really had a go at priests who wouldn't baptize the children of single mothers," said Catherine Pepinster, editor of the Tablet, a Catholic weekly in Britain. "He takes it back to a human place. It's more about the person than about sticking to the letter. He's willing to find a way through things."

But analysts warn that Francis' global popularity could fuel inflated expectations of the changes he is able, or wants, to deliver.

Although he's unquestionably the man at the top, disgruntled underlings can ignore or seek to thwart his injunctions. Conservative bishops in the U.S., most of them appointed by Francis' conservative predecessors, have grumbled about the direction Francis is taking and oppose relaxation of traditional strictures on marriage and family, said Massimo Faggioli of the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.

"The Catholic Church is not a military dictatorship where, if they don't obey, you can send the army. It's very difficult for a pope to force bishops to do what you want them to do," Faggioli said.

Some jockeying is already underway.

Prelates in Germany, Switzerland, parts of the U.S. and a few other jurisdictions who favor a softer line have published their survey findings to bolster the case for change. The German bishops reported that many of their parishioners view the church's teaching on sexual morality as "unrealistic," its prohibition on artificial contraception as "incomprehensible" and its treatment of remarried divorcees as pitiless.

That the Germans also publicized their results in English "clearly meant they were trying to influence public opinion in a worldwide manner," said Robert Gahl, who teaches at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.

Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times

 

The Church Cannot Change Her Doctrine on Marriage and Divorce. Concerns for the Upcoming Synod
By: Msgr. Charles Pope

http://blog.adw.org/2014/05/the-chu...e-and-divorce-concerns-for-the-upcoming-synod

 

No Pope, No Council, No Synod Can Change Divine Law!
The Church Has No Authority To Change Divine Law! The Church Cannot Overrule Our Blessed Lord!
Msgr. Charles Pope - Over the past several months there has been a lot of speculation on if and how the Church should change her teaching on marriage and divorce. Ross Douthat recently wrote a thoughtful column that sums up recent debates and concerns. (Here: More Catholic than the Pope?)

But those who seriously think that the Church can execute a fundamental change in our stance on divorce and remarriage will get a simple answer from me: “Impossible.” To the inevitable follow-up question, I can be equally brief in my response: “Divine Law.”
The Church’s teaching and concerns about divorce and remarriage do not have their origin in some sort of “uptight” Church with a bunch of “uptight rules,” (to use an unfair characterization). The forbiddance of divorce and remarriage is Divine Law; that is, it comes from the very lips of Jesus.

Despite the widespread allowance of divorce in His own culture, and even some allowance of it in the Mosaic Law, Jesus, when asked if divorce and remarriage were permissible, simply says, “No” (Mat 5:32; Mat 19:9; Mark 10:11; Lk 16:18;). He goes even further and says that those who do so commit ongoing adultery in their second marriages. This teaching is repeated several times in Jesus’ ministry.

This is Divine Law, sovereignly stated by Jesus. No Pope, no Council, no Synod, no priest in any confessional—no one has any right or capacity to set aside Divine Law. Those who argue that the Church should change her teaching on this matter are asking the Church to do something she cannot do. They are asking her to overrule Jesus. Appeals to culture, pointing out what certain Protestant denominations do or don’t do, even the practice of the Orthodox churches—none of these can or should overrule the stance of the Roman Catholic Church. We have held, properly, that Jesus’ teaching on the matter cannot be set aside by formulas, human rituals, human judges, human clerics, or any number of euphemisms.

Jesus is clear: to be validly married and then to divorce and marry someone else is to be an ongoing state of adultery. If this does not seem “nice” or “pastoral,” let the complainant talk to the chief Shepherd, Jesus, because He is the one who said it. Whatever pastoral stance the Church adopts, whatever language she employs, she cannot adopt any sort of stance that overrules this clear teaching of Jesus’.

But of course this brings forth the next question: What about annulments? Are they not a breaking of Jesus’ teaching? No, at least not according to the very words of Jesus himself. Let’s consider the matter a little further.

The Biblical Root of Annulments. The Lord says this in regard to marriage: “What God has joined together, let no one divide (Mat 19:6). On the face of it, divorce or any sort of annulment would seem forbidden by this. But actually the text serves as a basis for the Church’s allowance of annulment under certain circumstances.

The text says “What GOD has joined together” cannot be divided. Now just because two people stand before a Justice of the Peace, or a minister, or even a priest and swear vows, it does not mean that what they do is a work of God. There have to be some standards that the Church insists on in order for us to acknowledge that what they do is “of God.”

 

continued:
There are a number of impediments that can render what they do ipso facto invalid. Things such as prior bond (married before), consanguinity (related by blood too closely), minor status (under legal age), incapacity for the marital act (i.e., cannot have sexual intercourse), and the use of crime or deceit to obtain consent—any of these things can render a “marriage” invalid. Further, it is widely held that if one or both parties were compelled to enter the marriage (e.g., by social or financial pressure), or if they display(ed) a grave lack of due discretion on account of immaturity or poor formation, such marriages are nullified on these grounds.

All these are ways that the Church, based on evidence, can come to a determination that what appeared to be a marriage externally was not in fact so. Put more biblically, the putative marriage was not “what God has joined together.”

One may ask, “Who is the Church to make such a determination?” She is in fact the one to whom the Lord entrusted, through the ministry of Peter and the Bishops, the power to bind and loose (Mt 18:18) and to speak in His name (Lk 10:16).

Thus, Annulments are not Divorces. A decree of nullity from the Church is a recognition, based on the evidence provided, that a marriage in the Catholic and biblical sense of the word never existed. Hence, since a person has not in fact been joined by God to another, he or she is free to marry in the future. In such a case a person does not violate our Lord’s declaration that one who divorces his spouse and marries another commits adultery (cf Matt 19:9).

Hence the Church does not set aside the Lord’s teaching by her teaching on annulment. Rather she has reflected on His teaching and seeks to apply the Lord’s premise for a valid marriage, namely, that it is “what God has joined together.”

But here then comes the basis for the great debate: are we giving too many annulments? While it is clear that the Church has some pretty precise canonical norms regarding marriage, like any norms, they have to be interpreted and applied. Certain American practices and norms have evolved over the last thirty years that many think are too permissive and thus no longer respectful of the binding nature of marital vows.

Many troubling statistics could be presented to show that there has been a true explosion in the number of annulments granted. In the early 1960s, there were about 300 annulments granted per year in the United States. Today that number is over 60,000!

When it comes to annulments, I as a Catholic pastor am somewhat torn. Permit me two thoughts on both sides of the question.

Issue # 1 – Somewhere we have lost our way. As a Church that forbids divorce and remarriage, historically we have insisted on the fact that marriage is an unbreakable bond. Our straightforward insistence on this actually led Henry VIII to found his own “church” when the Pope refused to allow him to divorce and remarry.

In recent decades I fear we have become an “uncertain trumpet” on this topic. We still say “no divorce and remarriage,” but we don’t really seem to mean it, at least not in the minds of most people, who do not have command of the finder points of canon law. If one does go the route of divorce and remarriage, routinely we seem to “work it all out for them.”

That so few annulment requests are refused makes it seem a bit of a charade to say that we teach against divorce and remarriage. Now I said it makes it SEEM this way; I did not say that we in fact DO teach that divorce and remarriage is OK. But our teaching forbidding it surely seems an abstraction to many; for in the end and there appear to be no real consequences for anyone who divorces, other than having to go through a tedious and legalistic process that almost always ends in the granting of the annulment.

Hence our pastoral practice does not seem to reflect our faith and doctrine vigorously. Pastorally, this is troubling, and it has grave effects on marriage in the Church and on how people regard it. Are we really serious about upholding the Lord’s strict doctrine on marriage? Though doctrinally I think we are, pastorally I think most Catholics don’t think we are all that serious about it in the end. What we do speaks more loudly than what we say. And this is a big problem.

Issue # 2- Many pastors struggle with Annulment, not as an abstract debate about policy, but rather as a problem that affects real people who come to them with needs. Often it isn’t as crass as somebody coming in and saying, “Well I got rid of my first wife and have got me another I want to marry; let’s get the paperwork going, Father.” It is usually far more poignant than that. Perhaps someone married early, before he or she was really very serious about the faith, and married someone abusive. Now, years after the divorce, he or she has found someone supportive in the faith. Perhaps they even met right in the parish. Should a marriage that was entered into in the young and foolish years, and lasted all of six months, preclude entering into a supportive union that looks very promising? Maybe so, some still say.

Another common scenario is a person showing up at RCIA who has recently found the Catholic faith and wants to enter it. However, he or she was married 15 years ago in a Protestant Church to someone who had been married before. Now, mind you, the current marriage is strong and they have both been drawn to the Catholic faith. They have four children as well. What is a priest to do? Well, I can tell you that this priest will help the one who needs an annulment to get it.

And I can tell you, a lot of cases come to the Church this way. It’s hard and perhaps even unjust to say to someone like this that there is nothing the Church can do—he or she will never qualify for the Sacraments. No, we just don’t do that; we take such individuals through the process for annulment.

Perhaps too, another person shows up at the door: a long lost Catholic who has been away for 30 years. During that time he or she did some pretty stupid stuff, including getting married and divorced—sometimes more than once. Now he or she shows up at my door in a current marriage that seems strong and helpful, and which includes children. The person is in desperate need of Confession and Holy Communion. What is a pastor to do? He takes him or her through the process of annulment to get access to those Sacraments.

So there it is. There are very grave pastoral issues on both sides. On the one side, we lack coherence for many when we say we are against divorce and remarriage, but then grant so many annulments. On the other side are tens of thousands of people whom we seek to reintegrate into the life of the Church and her Sacraments.

Frankly, some of the reports (and they are only reports) of the upcoming Synod have been a bit discouraging. Many influential leaders, Bishops among them, have suggested a further watering down (my assessment) of the teaching of Jesus (who himself refused to water it down when pressured to do so) on divorce and remarriage. My own prayer is that we would move more in the direction of internal clarity regarding valid grounds for annulment. Right now the lack of clarity over what is meant by “grave lack of due discretion” (a.k.a. “immaturity”) sows confusion and even cynicism among the faithful.

It will be granted that some degree of maturity is required to enter into sacramental marriage. We don’t let 10-year-olds marry for good reasons. And when someone turns 18, he or she doesn’t magically reach the maturity required to enter into a valid Catholic marriage. However, when does one reach maturity? What are the signs of or criteria for such maturity? Exactly how much maturity is required for one to enter into a valid marriage? On what grounds can a priest refuse to marry a couple he deems to be immature? As you can see, nailing down the concept of ”maturity” may seem easy, but it is not.

This is significant because many, if not most annulments are rendered on the grounds of grave lack of due discretion (a.k.a. lack of full maturity).

If there could be any reform that might be helpful coming from the Synod, it would be to order further clarity and reflection over what we mean by “due discretion” and proper maturity. Sadly, I do not see such a proposal on the table. If reports are true, it sounds like many are looking for (hoping for) a solution that, to my mind, makes things far more murky, and may even set aside or weaken what Jesus taught without compromise.

Thanks be to God for the Holy Spirit, who I am sure will prevent the Synod from teaching outright error. But protection from error is a “negative protection” in that it only prevents error. And thanks be to God for that! But is it too much for me to pray for greater clarity, for me to pray that the Spirit will lead us to become clearer and more prophetic in our teaching? Veni Sancte Spiritus!

 

Cardinal: Church Needs to 'Update' Doctrine on Marriage
Secretary General of Synod of Bishops Favors Changes in Church Teaching
VATICAN CITY, May 07, 2014 (Zenit.org) - The Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops has said the Church should update its doctrine on marriage in an interview ahead of October’s Extraordinary Synod on the Family.
"The Church is not timeless, she lives amidst the vicissitudes of history and the Gospel must be known and experienced by people today," said Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri in an interview with the Christian weekly magazine Tertio.
He said the update in doctrine should, for example, pertain to the teaching on divorce, the situation of divorcees and people who are in civil partnerships.
"It is in the present that the message should be, with all respect for the integrity from whom the message has been received,” he said. “We now have two synods to treat this complex theme of the family and I believe that these dynamics in two movements will allow a more adequate response to the expectations of the people".
The cardinal, a close friend of Pope Francis and elevated to the College of Cardinals this year, added that it has been 33 years since the release of John Paul II’s "Familiaris Consortio", the last great ecclesiastical document on the subject.
The upcoming Synod will explore a range of issues pertaining to the family, including the pastoral care of those who are divorced and remarried, and those who are civilly married to divorcees.

 

The article that Fatima quotes, above, has received a lot of comments. One of them appeals to me because I love brevity and one blogger made the following very succinct comment:

Marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman. In order for a covenant to exist, they must come and be able to freely consent to it otherwise the covenant doesn't exist. Thus, an annulment is in fact stating that the covenant never took place on that day because of various reasons. These reasons including pre-marital sex, pressure from family, etc are very real and important considerations when taking into account if they freely entered into a covenant.

The Catholic Church deals with the problem of failed marriages with the annulment process but there is often a great deal of hypocrisy involved in the process. The Orthodox Church prefers to deal with the problem by refusing to get into the matter of validty at all.

The Pope, only a few weeks ago, said the following:

The holiness and indissolubility of Christian matrimony, often disintegrating under tremendous pressure from the secular world, must be deepened by clear doctrine and supported by the witness of committed married couples. Christian matrimony is a lifelong covenant of love between one man and one woman; it entails real sacrifices in order to turn away from illusory notions of sexual freedom and in order to foster conjugal fidelity.

Yet the Pope recognises that the Church can and should try to do something to deal with failed marriages. I think we need to trust the Pope and avoid trying to pre-judge the synod and what it might recommend.

 

I didn't read the article that Fatima posted as a prejudging of the synod at all. I thought the article was a very informative one that addresses a lot of people's concerns. I actually think it should help calm people down and fleshed out church doctrine in a very concise and easy to understand way.

 

The one thing I did not like in the article above was what was said in in bold (my bold) The Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops has said the Church should update its doctrine on marriage in an interview ahead of October’s Extraordinary Synod on the Family.

Very poor language by the Cardinal, as the Church has no authority to "update" (change) its doctrine. Doctrine develops, but can never change. The word update seems to imply change, not development. Years ago I bought the book called "Defending the Papacy" by Gerard Morrissey (a pseudo name). It was a priest who wrote this book, but could not disclose his name because of retribution from his order. He also wrote a two companion books called The Crisis of Dissent and What the Catholic Faithful Can Do. In his first book he made this statement "if a puppy becomes a dog that is development. If a puppy becomes a cat that is change". I have always used this as my guide to knowing what can and cannot change in Church teachings. Church doctrine (Divine Law) can never change, Church discipline (Human Law) can. This great book is still available on Amazon.com

Defending the Papacy by Gerard Morrissey (Jun 1984)

• $45.27 new (3 offers)
• $2.37 used (17 offers)

 

I have never been concerned in my whole life about the Chruch in my whole life as I am at the moment. Of course the Church has always had bad people doing bad things but the phrase, 'The lunatics have taken over the asylum @, springs to mind. I admit Catholic Prophesy has sensitised me to things. Even so there hardly seems to be a day goes y that a Cardinal does not say or do something that makes me want to cringe. I am talking not only of Cardinals but realy heavy hitting Cardinals who more nor less run the Church.

I am not going to rant on about it, for what good would it do, but I jsut find it appalling, it gives me butterflies in my stomach. I read of an old Cardinal who went up to Cardinal Kasper last week in Rome and told him he was a heretic. Cardinal Kasper made a joke about it. It is no joke to me.

Oh well it is God's Church and I know He will look after it. But it has got so bad I try not even to think about it. Poor Pope Benedict I can not even imagine what he is going through. I won't go into details but I think most of you know the kind of things I mean.

Thank God we have His promise that the gates of hell will not prevail for at the moment it looks like they have to me.

 

THE FALSE ECUMENICAL, HERETICAL CHURCH ESTABLISHED IN ROME:
"I saw also the relationship between two popes ... I saw how baleful would be the consequences of this false church. I saw it increase in size; heretics of every kind came into the city of Rome. The local clergy grew lukewarm, and I saw a great darkness...
"I had another vision of the great tribulation. It seems to me that a concession was demanded from the clergy which could not be granted. I saw many older priests, especially one, who wept bitterly. A few younger ones were also weeping. But others, and the lukewarm among them, readily did what was demanded. It was as if people were splitting into two camps.

"I saw that many pastors allowed themselves to be taken up with ideas that were dangerous to the Church. They were building a great, strange, and extravagant Church. Everyone was to be admitted in it in order to be united and have equal rights: Evangelicals, Catholics, sects of every description. Such was to be the new Church ... But God had other designs. "
"I saw again the strange big church that was being built there in Rome. There was nothing holy in it. I saw this just as I saw a movement led by Ecclesiastics to which contributed angels, saints, and other Christians. But there in the strange big church all the work was being done mechanically according to set rules and formulae. Everything was being done according to human reason ...I saw all sorts of people, things, doctrines, and opinions. There was something proud, presumptuous, and violent about it, and they seemed very successful. I di not see a single Angel nor a single saint helping in the work. But far away in the background, I saw the seat of the cruel people armed with spears, and I saw a laughing figure which said: " Do build it as solid as you can; we will pull it to the ground."
"I saw again the new and odd-looking church which they were trying to build. There was nothing holy about it ... People were kneading bread in the crypt below ... but it would not rise, nor did they receive the body of our Lord, but only bread. Those who were in error, through no fault of their own, and who piously and ardently longed for the Body of Jesus were spiritually consoled, but not by their communion. Then my Guide (Jesus) said: "This is Babel.(1)"

"I saw deplorable things: they were gambling, drinking, and talking in church; they were also courting women. All sorts of abominations were perpetrated there. Priests allowed everything and said Mass with much irreverence. I saw that few of them were still godly... All these things caused me much distress. "
DEVOUT CATHOLICS AND CLERGY BEING OPPRESSED:
"Then I saw an apparition of the Mother of God, and she said that the tribulation would be very great. She added that people must pray fervently with outstretched arms, be it only long enough to say three Our Fathers. This was the way her Son prayed for them on the Cross. They must rise at twelve at night, and pray in this manner; and they must keep coming to the Church. They must pray above all for the Church of Darkness to leave Rome... These were all good and devout people, and they did not know where help and guidance should be sought. There were no traitors and enemies among them, yet they were afraid of one another... "

"I saw more martyrs, not now but in the future ... I saw the secret sect relentlessly undermining the great Church. Near them I saw a horrible beast coming up from the sea. All over the world, good and devout people, especially the clergy, were harassed, oppressed, and put into prison ... "
"Whole Catholic communities were being oppressed, harassed, confined, and deprived of their freedom. I saw many churches closed down, great miseries everywhere, wars and bloodshed. A wild and ignorant mob took violent action. But it did not last long... "

Blessed Catherine Emmerich

 

I know this day is coming. What is uncertain is at what point? Be vigilant is my motto.

 

I would say if we go down the road we are going the Church would be extinct in a generation. THat's how bad it is. Couldn't be grimmer.

I will not criticise the Holy Father, my conscience will nto permit it, but that's the way Isee it.

When you see the World prising the CHurch its time to take to the hills. At the moment the World is ecstatic.

 

I dread the coming synod. I dread it. Thank God my father and mother are dead and not alive to witness it.

 

I am actually looking very much forward to the upcoming synod. It will put much confusion to rest for me. I will see where all our hierarchy stands on doctrinal issues. No more beating around the bushes. The light will shine on all of them and I am sure that darkness will be seen in some, and perhaps many of them. I still hold out hope that if things are at there worst by then, perhaps it will be the perfect time for the collegial consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary towards Russia.

 

Padraig, my personal feeling based on what I am reading is that the synod is going to be hijacked and not of Pope Francis's doing. If any documents change to the point I can't accept... I'll be lost but I trust God to help me find my way. I can accept a stream-lining of annulments on a more of a local level. Anything other than that... nope.

 

Nothing can change within the Synod that is not with the approval of the Supreme Pontiff.

 

I recently read a quote by Pope Benedict that said, "My authority stops as this door." Meaning his Papal office. The German and US Cardinals are already spinning this synod. Taking surveys... and ready to translate the truth to the MSM the way the see it. This synod will bring a great deal of confusion to the faithful, IMO. Buckle up.

 

Thing is 100% of the bishops could be against the pope, but no change can occur without the Supreme Pontiff consenting to it. This is why we must pray and offer penances for our Pope. He may well be under allot of pressure to make modifications, some valid and some invalid, but it is up to him to ratify any changes.

 

I hope what you say is true. I know more happens behind the scenes than we are told to prevent scandal. I will be praying, Fatima.