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The prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has again strongly defended the Church’s teaching on Communion for the divorced and remarried.
In a book length interview published on July 29, Cardinal Gerhard Müller discussed “mercy” and its connection with justice.
He also dwelt on the image of the Church as a “field hospital”, among the many topics covered.
In “The Hope of the Family”, the German cardinal calls for a renewed emphasis on instruction in the Church’s teachings on marriage and family life.
This is ahead of the upcoming synod on the family.
“We have a well-developed and structured doctrine on marriage, based on the word of Jesus, which must be offered in its integrity,” he said.
While advocating pastoral solicitude for divorced Catholics, he argues forcefully against the suggestion—championed by another German prelate, Cardinal Walter Kasper—that the Church might allow divorced and remarried Catholics to receive the Eucharist.
Cardinal Müller expresses “amazement” at some theologians citing the “absolute mercy” of God as justification, as this hides the profound nature of “authentic divine mercy”.
A mistaken reference to mercy involves “the grave risk of trivialising the image of God, according to which God would not be free, but rather obligated to forgive”.
“God never tires of offering us his mercy; the problem is that we tire of asking for it, of recognising our sin with humility, as Pope Francis has insistently recalled,” Cardinal Müller said.
“The facts of Scripture reveal that, in addition to mercy, holiness and justice also belong to the mystery of God.
“If we were to obscure these divine attributes and trivialise the reality of sin, it would make no sense to beg mercy of God on behalf of persons.”
He also criticised those who use the statements of Pope Francis to support a “pastoral” change on marriage.
“The image of the field hospital is very beautiful. Nonetheless, we cannot manipulate the Pope by reducing the whole reality of the Church to this image,” he said.
“The Church in itself is not a hospital; the Church is also the house of the Father.”
The Church cannot accommodate the expectations of the modern world with a “pragmatic adaptation”.
Christians are instead called to a prophetic martyrdom, the book states.
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