Cardinals

1

Carlo Cardinal Caffarra, Archbishop Emeritus of Bologna, Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, Prefect Emeritus of the Apostolic Signatura, Walter Cardinal Brandmüller, President Emeritus of the Roman Curia – Other, and Joachim Cardinal Meisner, Archbishop Emeritus of Köln {Cologne}

2

Robert Cardinal Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal-Deacon of San Giovanni Bosco in via Tuscolana

@Card_R_Sarah @ndiat1 No one, not even the pope, can set pastoral ministry in opposition to doctrine. pic.twitter.com/mdZnmOmrPH

— F M Shyanguya (@TheWarOurTime) January 16, 2017

@InfoCatolica @ndiat1 Combatting confusion in the Church, @Card_R_Sarah joins the fray. pic.twitter.com/GD1EbLjy1Y

— F M Shyanguya (@TheWarOurTime) December 4, 2016

Cf. 2/12/16 11:06 AM El Cardenal Sarah manifiesta su preocupación por la gran confusión que reina en el catolicismo | InfoCatólica – En una entrevista concedida el semanario francés Homme Nouveau el cardenal Robert Sarah exterioriza su preocupación por la gran confusión que reina en el mundo católico, incluso entre los obispos, acerca de la doctrina de la Iglesia. And Catholic World News | Cardinal Sarah: Pope cannot change divine law on marriage, November 21, 2016 | Catholic Culture and Card. Sarah preoccupato per la confusione sulla dottrina della Chiesa | Sinodo 2015 Blog

3

Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

4

Carlo Cardinal Caffarra

The possibility of allowing the divorced and remarried to receive communion is spoken about. One of Cardinal Kasper’s suggestions was that they should undergo a period of penance that would bring them into a full readmission to Communion. Is this now an inevitable necessity, or is it the accommodation of Christian teaching to contemporary circumstances?

Those who make these suggestions have not, at least up until now, answered one simple question: what happens to the first valid and consummated marriage? If the Church admits them to the Eucharist, she must render a judgment on the legitimacy of the second marriage. It’s logical. But, as I said, what about the first marriage? The second marriage, if we can call it that, cannot be a true second marriage because bigamy is against the teaching of Christ. So the first marriage, is it dissolved? But all the popes have always taught that the Pope has no authority over this. The Pope does not have the power to dissolve a valid and consummated marriage. The proposed solution seems to imply that although the first marriage continues, the Church can somehow legitimate a second relationship. But in doing this, the proposal demolishes the foundations of the Church’s teaching on sexuality. At this point we have to ask: why, then, can we not approve of unmarried couples living together? Or why not homosexual unions? The question is simple: what about the first marriage? No one has yet answered that question. In 2000, John Paul II speaking to the Roman Rota said: “It is clear that the Roman Pontiff’s power does not extend to valid and consummated marriages and this is taught by the Magisterium of the Church as a doctrine to be definitively held even if it has not been solemnly declared through a definitive act.” It is a technical formula, “a doctrine to be definitively held”, and it means that on this point there is no further discussion to be had among theologians nor doubts among the faithful.

5

Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke

[…]

In the whole history of the Church, it’s never been possible that someone who was living publicly in a state of sin, for example a person who is bound in matrimony to one person, is living in a marital way with another person. It has never been permitted that such a person could approach to receive Holy Communion. Now, suddenly, there are those, who are saying, “Oh, yes, but it is possible in certain cases,” and so forth – but if this is something that is always and everywhere wrong, how is it possible that someone who is living this way can receive the Sacraments?

[…]

RLCB: Yes, well. I travel a great deal now to different parts of the Church, and what I find everywhere is a great confusion about these matters, and division: between priests, and between bishops, and even between conferences of bishops, and this is the difficulty when people try to make change without respect for the doctrine – the constant doctrine and discipline of the Church – and so you end up with sometimes radically different practices [from] one part of the Church to another, and this cannot possibly be, because marriage and the Holy Eucharist are the same in every time and every place of the Church. So, we need to deal – right now – with all this confusion and put an end to it.

That’s one of the reasons why, together with three other Cardinals, we proposed these questions, or dubia, to the Pope: so that he could set this forth, and dispel a great deal of this confusion, because confusion is never helpful – and I don’t know what it means to say that changes neither doctrine nor discipline. Change has to follow doctrine and discipline. If it doesn’t, then in fact it is either weakening doctrine or even contradicting doctrine and discipline. Reason itself teaches us this.

[…]

RLCB: And that can’t be. In other words, doctrinal development means that we have come to a deeper understanding of what is the constant teaching of the Church, and are able to give fuller expression to it, but it does not mean that we change the doctrine or that we go away from it, and that’s the difficulty with the people who call this interpretation of the famous chapter 8 a “doctrinal development”. If the doctrinal development means that now, in the Church, those who are living in irregular matrimonial situations may receive the Sacraments, then this isn’t doctrinal development: this is a change in the Church’s teaching.

In fact, there is a commentator in the United States, Ross Douthat – [Do-that] I think – is how you pronounce his name, but I could be pronouncing it incorrectly – and a certain bishop in the United States gave an interpretation [to Amoris 8], which was radically contrary to what the Church has always taught and practiced, and this commentator – I believe he is a convert to Catholicism, but – he just simply said [that] from the point of view of reason, this is the end of the Church’s teaching on the indissolubility of marriage – and I believe that he’s correct.

6

Ennio Cardinal Antonelli, President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Family in full agreement with the local archbishop Giuseppe Cardinal Betori, Archbishop of Firenze {Florence}

7

Francis Cardinal Arinze, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

You are convinced it’s not possible to invite divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to Communion?

That is correct, in the sense that Christ has said, “What God has joined, let no man put asunder,” and the Catholic Church traditionally has interpreted it to mean that a consummated marriage sanctified by the sacrament cannot be broken by any authority.

Including the authority of the Church?

Yes, not even the authority of the Church can break it. That being so, if a man leaves a woman or asks her to go away, or she does the same, and they get a fresh partner, that can’t be approved. Christ has one word for a person who does that: “Adultery.” We cannot improve on what Christ has said. We cannot be wiser than him, or say that “there is a circumstance he did not foresee.” We cannot be more merciful than Christ.
We must look for a way to help the divorced who are remarried, [but] we don’t help them by saying, “Come and receive Holy Communion.”
The Eucharist is not something we possess, and we can give to our friends and those with whom we sympathize …. The idea of sin is not something new invented by modern conservative people in the Church. It is Christ himself who called it a sin, and he used that word “adultery.” He knows what he’s talking about. Without departing from Christ, how can we backpedal?
Remember, only God will conduct the last judgment, not us, not even half a dozen cardinals from the Vatican. God will judge each person’s circumstances, but objectively we cannot approve [divorce and remarriage].

[…]

Some at the synod have talked about allowing decisions on the divorced and remarried or on homosexuality to be decentralized, made at the level of regional or national bishops’ conferences or by individual bishops. How do you feel about that?

Are you going to tell me that we can have a national bishops’ conference in one country that would approve something which, in another conference, would be seen as sin? Is sin going to change according to national borders? We’d become national churches. Have there not been other religious affiliations in the world that came dangerously near to that?
National bishops’ conferences are important and should have a clear role, but I don’t think it should include these areas. It looks dangerously like nationalizing right and wrong.

8

Camillo Cardinal Ruini, Vicar General Emeritus of Roma {Rome}, Italy

Archbishops & Bishops

1

Archbishop Georg Gänswein

2

Archbishop Gądecki

3

One of the leitmotifs that runs through the book is your concern for marriage and the institution of marriage. Today’s debate over Amoris Laetitia pivots on that subject. What do you think is at stake?
St. Francis of Assisi encouraged the brothers, the Franciscan brothers, to accept the Gospel without gloss. And glosses were convoluted efforts to make the Gospel say something that it didn’t say, or Jesus didn’t really mean what he said. So it seems to me we ought to take Jesus at his word, and his words about divorce and remarriage, about it being adultery, are very clear. I mean, there’s just no doubt about what Jesus said in the Gospels.
It seems to me that it’s impossible for us to contradict the words of Jesus, and it’s also impossible for a teaching to be true 20 years ago not to be true today when it’s the teachings of the pope. The teachings of Pope Francis can’t contradict the teachings of John Paul II when it is a matter of official teaching.
So, it seems to me we have to interpret Amoris Laetitia in the light of what’s gone before it, primarily the words of Jesus, but secondarily the teachings of the pope, the Magisterium of the Church. And so how can it be true that people can receive Communion when they’re living in an adulterous union today. How is that possible, when the Church says it’s not possible?
Do you want the pope to answer the dubia? [Note: The term refers to questions put to Pope Francis by four cardinals, including American Cardinal Raymond Burke, about the meaning of Amoris.]
Yes. I think it’s always good to answer questions, clearly.
Even if the answer doesn’t go in the direction you might want?
Absolutely.
Do you think he will?
I don’t know. He certainly has opportunities to do that. [But] I don’t really know what he’ll do. He hasn’t told me.
– CRUX

4

 That explains why, in just the last couple of days, we’ve had very different interpretations of the document from two prominent leaders of the Church – Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia and Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna. And from many other commentators as well.The good news is, that because of this ambiguity, people can do just about whatever they want. The bad news is, that because of this ambiguity, people can do just about whatever they want.Go figure! – Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, July 7 at 4:54pm

Abp. Chaput even though not condemning AL, has shown up. God bless him and God has blessed his flock and shown them mercy. This of course sets him on a collision course with Pope Francis and his Exhortation. “May he stand courageously and tend the LORD’s flock in his sublime name, and to be brave to oppose Pope Francis to his face for his condemnable Amoris Laetitia and other acts.” – @FMShyanguya comment below Pope Francis on Benedict’s Abdication and “Ultra-Conservatives” | 1P5

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia also issued a new set of pastoral guidelines that took effect July 1 wherein he called on divorced and remarried Catholics to abstain from sex and instead to live just as a brother and a sister would.
A senior analyst for the National Catholic Reporter, Rev. Thomas Reese, believes the pontifical document “Amoris Laetitia” also known as “The Joy of Love” released in April, allows bishops to make their own interpretation on the doctrine. – UK bishop announces pastoral support for married couples after Pope’s Amoris Laetitia | Chiqui Guyjoco, 12 JULY, 2016 | The Christian Times

Buttiglione’s argument, featured on the front page, marked a shift in the Vatican’s defense of Francis’ document, confronting the criticisms head-on rather than just praising the pope’s text.
The initiative could signal a more concerted campaign by the Vatican to ensure that the “The Joy of Love” is interpreted as Francis intended. Already, conservative Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput has said that divorced and civilly remarried Catholics can only receive Communion in his archdiocese if they abstain from sex and live as “brother and sister.” – Vatican Ramps Up Family Document Defense by Nicole Winfield (AP) | U.S. News (The Vatican is striking back at conservative critics of Pope Francis’ landmark document on family life.)

5

Bishop Athanasius Schneider, O.R.C.

6

Bishop Thomas Joseph Tobin

7

Bishop Thomas John Paprocki

… With divorced and civilly-remarried persons, Church teaching requires them to refrain from sexual intimacy. This applies even if they must (for the care of their children) continue to live under one roof. 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.”

This applies not only in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, but also here in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, as it does elsewhere in the Church.

8

Monseñor José Francisco Ulloa Rojas, Obispo Diocesano de Cartago

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Catholic Bishops of Alberta & the NW Territories: Most Reverend Richard W. Smith, Archbishop of Edmonton, Most Reverend Gregory J. Bittman, Auxiliary Bishop of Edmonton, Most Reverend Mark Hagemoen, Bishop of Mackenzie-Fort Smith, Most Reverend Frederick Henry, Bishop of Calgary, Most Reverend Gerard Pettipas CSsR, Archbishop of Grouard-McLennan, Most Reverend Paul Terrio, Bishop of St. Paul

10

Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix: Bishops: Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, Fourth Bishop of Phoenix and Bishop Eduardo A. Nevares, Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix

5. What about people who are divorced and remarried? Can they receive the Sacraments?

All Catholics must sacramentally confess all serious sins of which he or she is aware, with a firm purpose to change, before receiving the Eucharist. With divorced and civilly-remarried couples, the truth about marriage as the Church understands it requires abstinence from sexual intimacy in order to be eligible to receive the Sacraments, and as long as there is no scandal or an implication that the Church’s teaching can be set aside. Divorced and remarried persons should not hold positions of responsibility in a parish or carry out liturgical functions. This is a difficult teaching for many, but anything less misleads people about the nature of the Eucharist and the Church. The grace of Jesus Christ is more than a pious cliché: it is a real and powerful seed of change in the believing heart.

11

Archbishop Tomash Peta, Metropolitan Archbishop of the archdiocese of Saint Mary, Archbishop Jan Paweł Lenga, Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Karaganda, and Bishop Athanasius Schneider, O.R.C., Auxiliary Bishop of the archdiocese of Saint Mary

12

Bishop Rigoberto Corredor Bermúdez, Bishop of Pereira

13

Bishop Juan Antonio Reig Pla, Bishop of Alcalá de Henares

14

Bishops calling for clarification of Amoris Laetitia

Priests & Deacons

1

Pater Bernhard Gerstle, FSSP German-speaking District Superior

2

The Denzinger-Bergoglio

3

Fr. George W. Rutler

4

Fr. Regis Scanlon, OFMCap

5

Fr. George Woodall

6

Fr. Gerald E. Murray

7

Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.

8

Father Louis-Marie de Blignières (one of the 45 signatories of the Critique on Amoris Laetitia)

9

Father Basil B. Cole, O.P.

10

Fr. Robert Fromageot, FSSP

11

Fr. John Hunwicke, a priest of the personal ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham

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The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy from confraternity of catholic clergy (usa), australian confraternity of catholic clergy, confraternity of catholic clergy: british province, and irish confraternity of catholic clergy

Religious

1

Giovanna Riccobaldi, Eremitin

Laity

1

Veri Catholici

2

Dr. Anna Silvas

3

F M Shyanguya, HI, USA

4

Luiz Sérgio Solimeo

5

Voice of the Family

6

Robert Spaemann

7

EWTN

8

Dr. E. Christian Brugger

9

Prof. Richard A. Spinello

10

Donald R. McClarey

11

Antonio Socci

12

Roberto de Mattei

13

Veronica A. Arntz

14

RORATE CÆLI

15

Josef Seifert

16

Professor Michael Pakaluk

17

Prof. Eduardo Echeverria

18

Dr. Edward N. Peters, JD, JCD

19

CWR Staff

20

Phil Lawler

21

Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Institute

22

Prof. Jude P. Dougherty

23

Elliot Milco, deputy editor of First Things.

24

Matthew Schmitz, literary editor of First Things.

Perhaps you don’t believe that marriage really is indissoluble, that communion must be made in a state of grace, or that humans are eternally answerable for their actions. If so, you will find nothing objectionable in the course that Francis has taken. But if you believe otherwise, then the only possible response to Francis’s effort is opposition. Because Christian teaching on marriage is true, it cannot change; because it is beautiful, it must not be obscured.

25

Dr. Jessica M. Murdoch, Associate Professor of Fundamental and Dogmatic Theology at Villanova University.

26

Dr. Claudio Pierantoni, Universidad de Chile – Facultad de Filosofía.

27

Prof. Dr. Helmut Hoping – Universität Freiburg, Theologische Fakultät, AB Dogmatik und Liturgiewissenschaft

28

Compiled by Andrew Guernsey

29

James Larson

30

Nicolas Bellord

31

Dan Hitchens

32

Paolo Pasqualucci

33

Thomas Mulcahy, M.A., J.D.

34

Maltese Catholics

35

Steven O’Reilly

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Douglas Farrow, Professor of Christian thought, McGill University (Canada)

The regionalism that we are currently witnessing in the West, under the rubric of “discernment of situations,” is the result of a failure to discern both the nature of the sacraments and the situation of the Church. The old gods, sex, mammon, and death, are reviving and reasserting themselves as the gods of autonomy. They are beginning to press their hands on the faithless and the faithful alike. They are groping even for the holy sacraments, that they might defile them. In this situation, do we really need more talk about the internal forum and “the sacred ground of the other”?

My emphasis

37

One-day April 22 Rome Conference of Laity to Call for Clarity on ‘Amoris Laetitia’ by the Italian publication La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana and the monthly magazine Il Timone

Anna Silvas, Senior Research Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, University of New England (Australia)

“A year since Amoris Laetitia: a word at the right moment.”

Claudio Pierantoni, Professor of Medieval Philosophy, University of Chile (Chile)

“The need for consistency of the Magisterium with Tradition: examples from history.”

Jurgen Liminski, Journalist, Intellectual, Director of the Institute for Demography, Welfare and Family (Germany)

“The indissolubility of marriage, a good for society.”

Douglas Farrow, Professor of Christian Philosophy, McGill University, Montreal (Canada)

“The roots of the current crisis.”

Jean Paul Messina, Professor of the History of Christianity and Religious Studies, Theological Faculty of the Catholic University of Central Africa, Yaoundé (Cameroon)

“The universality of doctrine and local contexts: the case of the African churches.”

Thibaud Collin, Professor of Moral and Political Philosophy, Collège Stanislas, Paris (France)

“A matter of conscience.”

To the Pope

To Pope Francis prior to the Synod on the Family 2015

3

Publications

To all Catholic Cardinals

1

International group of 45 Catholic theologians, pastors, historians, and scholars

To all Catholic Bishops

1

F M Shyanguya, HI, USA

2

Veri Catholici

Declarations

1

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