They say their decisions are in line with Pope Francis's 2016 document on the family, Amoris Laetitia.

One of the bishops, Renato Marangoni, wrote a formal apology for having "ignored" these couples in parish life.

He said he wants to speak to families "that have experienced situations which led you to separation or also to divorce, and beyond this, to begin new unions for which some have chosen to remarry civilly or not to get married,".

He also wants to open "a relationship of awareness, respect and dialogue" with these couples.

"For a long time, we declared that you couldn't be fully admitted to the sacraments of penance and the Eucharist, while in many of you was the desire to be supported by the gift of the sacraments and the affection of the community"

It's in these complicated situations "that personal responsibility needs to be supported and helped, precisely in its fragility," and invited divorced or separated couples to a "friendly and family-style meeting" this coming Sunday.

Radio Spada, a well-known traditional Catholic site, responded to the letter, saying "there's no call to abandon a gravely sinful situation that puts the eternal destiny of one's soul at risk, no mention of the high Christian values of chastity and the holiness of the family, no reference to the unity and indissolubility of marriage.

"More than a letter of a successor of the Apostles, it's a letter of a successor of the Apostates,".

However, another Italian bishop, Corrado Pizziolo, is preparing to publish guidelines on implementing Amoris.

These will allow divorced and remarried Catholics without an annulment to receive the sacraments on a case-by-case basis.

Vatican-watcher Francesco Grana says Marangoni and Pizziolo's decisions are "important initiatives".

They "mark a change in mentality, especially within the Italian Church" and are a sign "that the processes strongly desired and initiated by Bergoglio are beginning to bear fruit," Grana said.

Describing Amoris is an invitation from the pope, Pizziolo said it involves not only paying attention, "but also to act operatively, both in ordering the announcement of the Gospel, and in the attention, care and integration of wounded families."

He says the guidelines, which will be released this week, have been prepared "in filial obedience to the indications of the pope."

"Amoris Laetitia does not intend to take away any ecclesial or canonical discipline and to therefore admit all possible situations of couples to all ecclesial acts," Pizziolo said.

The novelty is in "providing for certain couples who do not fully live Christian marriage, beyond what opportunities already existed before, the possibility of accessing participation in the sacrament."

Source

• Crux
• Image: The Guardian

In light of the fact that the early Church also faced this perplexing pastoral challenge, Kasper introduces a number of witnesses who, he argues, potentially indicate a way forward for the contemporary Church toward a pastoral praxis that goes "beyond both rigorism and laxity." (p. 31).

However, in invoking the early Christian sources, it appears that Kasper, despite acknowledging that the response of the early church Fathers was "not uniform" (p. 31), somewhat misrepresents the evidence, and does so in such a way as to advance his argument in a certain direction as though it were supported by the sources he cites.

Moreover, having quoted just one author, he goes on to give the impression that the statement reflects a united and considered witness, even a consensus proceeding from certain justifications and eventually "confirmed" at a conciliar level (pp. 31 and 37).

Limiting itself to the Greek sources explicitly mentioned by Kasper—Origen, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, and the Council of Nicaea—and leaving aside the position of Augustine and later western Christian practice, it is the purpose of this report to clarify what in fact these sources actually say, not in order to discredit the cardinal or his proposals, but all the better to elucidate the real difficulties currently faced by the Church in its effort faithfully and pastorally to bring the Gospel to bear in the concrete life-situations of divorced and remarried Catholics. Continue reading

Sources

• Adam G. Cooper, The Catholic World Report
• Image: St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College

Adam G. Cooper is senior lecturer at the John Paul II Institute for Marriage & Family in Melbourne, Australia.

"We already have our own guidelines, and the pope has now clearly signaled that certain things can be decided locally," said Robert Eberle, spokesman for the archdiocese of Freiburg in a news article published by the Catholic News Service.

"We're not the only archdiocese seeking helpful solutions to this problem, and we've had positive reactions from other dioceses in Germany and abroad, assuring us they already practice what's written in our guidelines," he said.

Eberle's comments followed the disclosure by Bishop Gebhard Furst of Rottenburg-Stuttgart Nov. 23 that the bishops' would adopt proposals on reinstating divorced and remarried parishioners as full members of the church during their March plenary.

Fuerst told a meeting of lay Catholics earlier that the bishops had already drafted reform guidelines and aimed to approve them at their next plenary meeting in March.

Readmitting twice-married Catholics to full membership in the Church is a pressing concern for Pope Francis, who has called a special synod of bishops next October to consider ways to do this despite Catholicism's rejection of divorce.

Fuerst was the most explicit of several German bishops to rebuff Archbishop Gerhard Mueller, head of the Vatican doctrinal office, who last month ruled out any change after Freiburg archdiocese in Germany unveiled its own reform proposals.

Catholics who divorce and remarry in a civil ceremony are barred from receiving communion under Vatican doctrine that applies to the worldwide Church. Many of them see this as a sign of rejection and drift away from the faith.

Sources

Catholic News Service
National Catholic Reporter
Reuters
Image: Reuters