Germany’s bishops have denied that a conference dubbed a “shadow council” in Rome was about changing Church teaching. The heads of the Swiss, German and French bishops’ conferences organised a “study day” held at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University last week. It was attended by nine bishops, 17 professors and priests, and selected media representatives. One Read more
English Cardinal Vincent Nichols has told married couples that even a broken marriage remains a source of grace for those involved in it. Cardinal Nichols was speaking at a special Mass at Westminster Cathedral in thanksgiving for the sacrament of Matrimony. More than 500 married couple celebrating milestone anniversaries attended. In his homily, Cardinal Nichols Read more
Germany’s main lay Catholic organisation has called for a raft of new pastoral practices concerning marriage and sexuality. The Zentralkomitee der deutschen Katholiken (Central Committee of the German Catholics) called for the admittance of civilly remarried divorcees to Communion, acceptance of all forms of cohabitation, the blessing of same-sex couples and the reconsideration of the Church’s teaching Read more
The archbishop of Sydney says a crisis of what it means to love should be a focus at the synod on the family, not controversial topics the media promotes. Archbishop Anthony Fisher said this last week in an interview with Vatican Radio. This followed his appointment by Pope Francis as a member of the Congregation Read more
The relator of the synod on the family says it is possible to find radical ways to address difficult pastoral problems and not infringe Church discipline. The Crux website reported Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo saying the synod is a place for an honest discussion over the difficulties families face. The cardinal said that legal and Read more
German Catholics have criticised Vatican questions ahead of the synod on the family as proceeding from an idealised image of the family. This was the main criticism in a summary of replies of German Catholics to the 46 questions of the second Vatican questionnaire on the family. Germany’s Catholic bishops released the summary of responses, Read more
A German cardinal has said that those who insistently demand changes in the Church’s teaching on marriage are heretics, even if they are bishops. Cardinal Walter Brandmüller said this in an interview with LifesiteNews last month. The cardinal discussed the issue of Communion for those whose marriages are not recognised by the Church. He was Read more
In November of 2014 I married an incredible man. One of the greatest blessings of our marriage is that we both had a good understanding of the Catholic Church’s teachings on human sexuality and marriage. Independently of each other, prior to dating, we had both taken seriously our duties to be educated in both areas. Read more
The diocese of Pittsburgh in the United States has eliminated all fees for marriage annulments. Bishop David Zubik said Pope Francis had inspired the move by calling for marriage tribunals to do justice swiftly. The Pope expressed a desire for no-cost annulments last year. Pittsburgh church officials had been collecting about US$120,000 annually in annulment fees Read more
The Vatican’s doctrine chief has lambasted the idea that doctrinal or disciplinary decisions on marriage and family be delegated to bishops’ conferences. In an interview with French Catholic magazine Famille Chrétienne, Cardinal Gerhard Müller called the notion “absolutely anti-Catholic”. The prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said the idea does not Read more