Did the pope really use the 'D' word?
In the news today ... Pope Francis Says Divorce Can Be 'Morally Necessary' To Protect Kids ... Pope Francis: Sometimes divorce can be a ‘moral necessity’
This supposed recognition by the pope of the sometimes necessity of divorce sounds good to me. But did the pope actually use the word "divorce" ... all the quotes I've seen on this story have him using the word "separation" instead. If he meant separation, then this is nothing new. As Cardinal Müller, the head of the CDF, stated on Vatican Radio in 2013 ...
Admittedly there are situations – as every pastor knows – in which marital cohabitation becomes for all intents and purposes impossible for compelling reasons, such as physical or psychological violence. In such hard cases, the Church has always permitted the spouses to separate and no longer live together. It must be remembered, though, that the marriage bond of a valid union remains intact in the sight of God, and the individual parties are not free to contract a new marriage, as long as the spouse is alive.
All this is stuff is in the news because of the upcoming synod on the family and the question of whether people who are divorced and remarried will be allowed to receive communion. I'd like to say I think the pope will lead the way to an acceptance of divorce, but actually I doubt he will budge from the traditional view.
Coincidentally, I saw this article from The Atlantic today about the Philippines, where the Catholic church has such control of politics that ... a husband and wife can part only through death, or the torturous process of annulment ... because divorce is illegal.
This supposed recognition by the pope of the sometimes necessity of divorce sounds good to me. But did the pope actually use the word "divorce" ... all the quotes I've seen on this story have him using the word "separation" instead. If he meant separation, then this is nothing new. As Cardinal Müller, the head of the CDF, stated on Vatican Radio in 2013 ...
Admittedly there are situations – as every pastor knows – in which marital cohabitation becomes for all intents and purposes impossible for compelling reasons, such as physical or psychological violence. In such hard cases, the Church has always permitted the spouses to separate and no longer live together. It must be remembered, though, that the marriage bond of a valid union remains intact in the sight of God, and the individual parties are not free to contract a new marriage, as long as the spouse is alive.
All this is stuff is in the news because of the upcoming synod on the family and the question of whether people who are divorced and remarried will be allowed to receive communion. I'd like to say I think the pope will lead the way to an acceptance of divorce, but actually I doubt he will budge from the traditional view.
Coincidentally, I saw this article from The Atlantic today about the Philippines, where the Catholic church has such control of politics that ... a husband and wife can part only through death, or the torturous process of annulment ... because divorce is illegal.
posted by crystal | 3:05 PM
2 Comments:
He really hasn't said anything newsworthy here. Just another case of the media not knowing the nuances of Catholic doctrine and confusing this for something new.
If Jesus knew how his teaching about divorce would be used (or rather, abused) by the church, he would have chosen his words more carefully. The official teaching is pure superstition. I would love to see the bishops do the right thing, but I'm not even a little bit optimistic about that.
Me either. I think the best we will get from the synod is some kind of "mercy" loophole that might allow divorced/remarrieds to get communion at their priest's discretion, with lots of reminders of how they've failed to follow the teaching.
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