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THE HEAD OF the Roman Catholic Church in Philadelphia is closing the door opened by Pope Francis to letting civilly remarried Catholics receive Communion, saying the faithful in his archdiocese can only do so if they abstain from sex and live “as brother and sister.”
Archbishop Charles Chaput, who is known for strongly emphasising strict adherence to Catholic doctrine, issued a new set of pastoral guidelines for clergy and other leaders in the archdiocese that went into effect 1 July.
The guidelines reflect a stance taken by St John Paul II.
“Undertaking to live as brother and sister is necessary for the divorced and civilly remarried to receive reconciliation in the Sacrament of Penance, which could then open the way to the Eucharist,” the guidelines read.
‘The Joy of Love’
Church teaching says that unless divorced and remarried Catholics received an annulment — a church decree that their first marriage was invalid — they are committing adultery and cannot receive the sacrament of Communion.
Chaput says the new instructions stem from Francis’ sweeping document on family life released in April. That document — called “The Joy of Love” — opened a door to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics.
Francis didn’t create a church wide admission to Communion for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics as some progressives had wanted. But in the April document, he suggested bishops and priests could do so on a case-by-case basis in what could become a significant development in church practice.
Confusion
John Paul II, in his 1982 document on the family, proposed the brother-sister option for divorced and remarried couples as the only way they could receive Communion.
In Francis’ revision of that document, which conservatives like Chaput have criticised for sowing confusion, Francis made clear that John Paul’s proposal was simply unrealistic and unhealthy for families.
In a footnote to “The Joy of Love,” Francis wrote that many people, while acknowledging the brother-sister option, “point out that if certain expressions of intimacy are lacking, it often happens that faithfulness is endangered and the good of the children suffers.”
The Philadelphia guidelines say Catholics in same-sex partnerships, civilly remarried parishioners and unmarried couples living together should not be permitted to serve on parish councils, instruct the faithful, serve as lectors or dispense Communion.
Such “irregular” relationships “offer a serious counter-witness to Catholic belief, which can only produce moral confusion in the community,” the guidelines state, acknowledging it is a “hard teaching.”
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Didn’t get far into the article before I got the general gist. Doxxing is perfectly acceptable to one side and not the other…guess which side.
@Briscoe Sundara: It is inconceivable that whoever wrote that dross cannot see how bad it is. There’s a paragraph there near the start that try’s to justify Far Left Vs Far Right Doxxing….. Ultimately it says……..
Far Left Doxxing….. Gooooood, because they’re harassing people on the far right….!!!
Far Right Doxxing….. Baaad… because they’re harassing people on the far left….!!!
Can we not all agree…. that you’ll all nuts…. The Nazi’s\racists on the far right and the loons on the far left like the author.
You would need a Pint after reading that carry on.
@Gerard: well this is awkward, didn’t really take long to find one Irish account. https://mobile.twitter.com/antifa_drone
@An Breasláin Nua: where, specifically, are the people on the left approving of doxxing in any significant number?
On the other hand, the far right approval is right here…
My comment linking an example of an Irish far left account openly doxxing people on Twitter was removed… The bias here is very concerning.
I think the cut and paste nature of right wing politics from the UK is the main reason it remains on the fringes here. It is extremely sympathetic to imperialism and loyalism, a deal breaker as this is at odds with the views of the vast majority of Irish people who would otherwise agree with others elements e.g. anti abortion.
“the far-right in Ireland is effectively a “copy and paste” groups in the US and Europe. ”
Very well described! It’s so pathetic how many of them don’t even understand the very basics of Irish politics.
One of their favourite mantras when they found themselves with a brown taoiseach was to claim he was “unelected” because they could only equate leadership with american style presidential contests.
The liberal consensus is creating opposition which it has labelled ‘Far – Right’.
The leaders might be opportunists looking for a cause and they are finding support from men who are reacting to being vilified, shouted down and discriminated against.
However the ‘liberal consensus is also well populated by opportunists and as they say “it takes one to know one”.
There is an economic concept, called the law of diminishing returns in play here. When you have got more than you ever asked for don’t start coming up with new “asks” and historical grievances as supporting facts.
The Catholic Church might have been a focal point for earlier generations but it doesn’t have the moral authority that it used to.
This was meant to be a response to Ned Gerblansky’s post above.
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