I ran across an article from a Catholic site that, to my best estimation, emanates from Australia about the whole issue of divorced and remarried Catholics' eligibility to receive Holy Communion. This among many hot button issues effecting the Church have been featured prominently on both Catholic and secular news services of late. The practice is for persons married in the Church who divorce and remarry without getting the first union annulled, or Catholics who marry civilly but never have the union con-validated by the Church to refrain from receiving Communion. If they wish to participate actively in the Sacraments then they are asked to live as friends or brother and sister with their spouse.
I am not arguing perpetual abstinence from sexual relations is the easy or practical solution for these people. The plain fact is that most people in this position either leave the Catholic Church for what they perceive to be a more understanding Christian community, attend Mass without receiving Communion or simply stop practicing any religion. None of the choices left open to a person who finds themselves in a difficult marital situation is easy, and I know that people truly suffer having to make the perceived choice between their faith and their marriage.
Of all the difficult teachings associated with Catholicism this is the one that effects me as a priest most directly on a day to day basis. We hear a lot of confessions here at St. John Bosco Parish when compared to other parishes I've served in, and I don't go many days between having a person in what we call an "irregular" situation visit me in the confessional. Many times these are people with children in our religious education program who have come back to Church because of their children. Some times the solution to their problem is easy; either the couple is married civilly, or not at all, or if they are divorced their fist marriage was civil and so they can either begin their preparation for marriage in the Church right away or after a brief investigation to make sure the first marriage wasn't contracted during a religious ceremony. If the first was a Church marriage then an annulment is required. This can be a long, painful experience for people, and most who approach me about it don't proceed. This often leads to years either alienated from the Church completely, or else separated from the Sacraments. A painful situation, indeed.
Pope Francis has called a special Synod of Bishops for next year to look at this and other issued surrounding the present state of married people and the family. The regularly scheduled Synod takes place the year after, reportedly continuing the theme. High on the list of priorities is the examination of how divorced and remarried Catholics are to be tended to by their shepherds. Is there a way to admit these people once again into full communion with the community by way of the Sacraments? Pope Benedict XVI established a committee to examine the issue, but they came back to him saying, in essence, that there was no way around the status quo.
In dealing with this issue with honesty and integrity we must first face Jesus' revolutionary teaching on marriage, which prohibits divorce. The Church's teachings are not a set arbitrary rules, but are the result of a reflection on Jesus' teachings and actions. Jesus was merciful, but his words could also be strikingly stern. And even his acts of mercy were always followed up by the admonition to "go and sin no more." As Archbishop Gerhard Muller, Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith pointed out recently:
"The entire sacramental economy is a work of divine mercy and it cannot simply be swept aside by an appeal to the same. An objectively false appeal to mercy also runs the risk of trivializing the image of God, by implying that God cannot do other than forgive. The mystery of God includes not only his mercy but also his holiness and his justice. If one were to suppress these characteristics of God and refuse to take sin seriously, ultimately it would not even be possible to bring God’s mercy to man. Jesus encountered the adulteress with great compassion, but he said to her “Go and do not sin again” (Jn 8:11). God’s mercy does not dispense us from following his commandments or the rules of the Church. Rather it supplies us with the grace and strength needed to fulfill them, to pick ourselves up after a fall, and to live life in its fullness according to the image of our heavenly Father."
Pope Francis has hinted that maybe a simplifying of the annulment process is in order. I'm not a canonist, and won't venture to guess what a proposed simplification would look like. The Holy Father recently told a group of top canon lawyers that their work should be seen as a pastoral ministry designed to heal broken souls and not simply a bureaucratic or legalistic process. Again, what this means moving ahead I can't say.
All I can say is that considering the present state of marriage in the West, and the cultural shift away from the traditional Catholic - Christian understanding of the Sacrament by most people, I wouldn't be surprised if more couples than we want to admit approach the altar with a deficient understanding of the commitment that they are making, or in their hearts and minds are not making the same commitment at all. This in spite of all the best efforts of pastors and diocesan offices of family life to prepare our newlyweds well. I'm the first to say that we shouldn't use an appeal to mercy, no matter how sincere, to nullify the words of Jesus Christ. At the same time we are dealing with people who are more influenced by the culture than by Christ, and so need a way back into the Church after a failed attempt at marriage, not more roadblocks.
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