Priests in England and Wales are being urged to sign a letter calling on the family synod to resist any move to allow Communion for the civilly remarried.
The letter also calls on the synod to proclaim the Church’s “unchanging” moral teaching.
The initiative comes from a group of dozen priests, dubbed by The Tablet as “conservative-minded”.
Among their number is the Dominican theologian Fr Aidan Nichols.
The group sent another letter to priests outlining the reasons for their action.
The first letter urges those who participate in this year’s synod of bishops to end “confusion” that was caused at last year’s gathering.
It also pledges help to those struggling with the demands of the Gospel in an increasingly secular society.
Priests are urged to send the signed letter to a “support of marriage co-ordinator”.
The group that sent the letters say they are committed to serve all who struggle to live out the demands of the Gospel in modern life.
They stress, however, that clarity in teaching is never opposed to pastoral practice, but is instead its foundation.
The priests argue that the synod has left many to whom they minister confused.
“All too often it is those who have been most faithful to the teaching of the Church, and have made great sacrifices in order to conform their lives to the Gospel, who have been left in greatest distress,” the letter states.
The letters came as American Cardinal Raymond Burke gave several talks in England.
In one talk, Cardinal Burke said the new evangelisation of Western societies will fail unless the Church succeeds in transmitting its teachings on marriage and the family to Catholics.
“If we can’t get it straight with regard to the truth about marriage and the family, we really don’t have much to say about anything else,” Cardinal Burke said.
Without naming anyone, he criticised Church figures who, he said, “will obscure the truth of the indissolubility of marriage in the name of mercy”.
Sources