Communion policy must be resolved locally says Pope

Juliet Palmer — Mon, 07 May 2018 08:09:42 +0000

The Communion policy dividing the German bishops conference will not be resolved by the Vatican, Pope Francis says. Instead, the bishops must resolve the problem among themselves.

The policy agreed to by over three quarters of the bishops will allow the non-Catholic spouses of Catholics to receive Communion in certain circumstances.

The policy says one of the most important conditions enabling spouses to receive Communion is that they "share the Catholic faith" on the Eucharist.

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki and six other bishops disagree with the new policy.

They wrote to the Vatican asking for clarification. They said they don't think the issue is within the competence of a local bishops' conference. They think it is a universal Church matter.

Last week six of the bishops and their secretary, a Jesuit priest, went to Rome to ask Pope Francis to rule on the matter.

They met with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the Congregation for Bishops and with the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity.

Archbishop Luis Ladaria, the CDF prefect, then reported to Pope Francis giving him a summary of the conversations.

He returned to the delegation saying Francis wished them to continue discussion of the issue among themselves. He explained Francis is hoping for "a possibly unanimous arrangement."

Francis has sought to decentralise church decision-making in favor of local solutions. He emphasises conscience and case-by-case solutions to pastoral problems.

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Communion policy must be resolved locally says Pope

Intercommunion - Cardinal Marx and Pope Francis

Juliet Palmer — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 08:08:38 +0000

Intercommunion - enabling non-Catholics to receive the Eucharist - is to be discussed in Rome.

Although several news sources say Francis has already rejected a draft plan to allow non-Catholics who are married to Catholics to receive Communion in certain circumstances, it seems this is not the case.

German Bishops' Conference president, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, says he has "welcomed the request of Pope Francis who proposed a discussion in Rome" about the draft plan.

Marx says the draft was adopted by a three-quarters majority of the German Bishops' Conference after an "intense debate" on 22 February.

However, on 22 March, seven bishops wrote to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity seeking their "assistance" and "clarification."

They questioned whether the draft plan was outside the competence of an episcopal conference.

In particular, they asked if it was of a pastoral nature, as Marx had suggested, or of a doctrinal nature.

If it is doctrinal, unanimous adoption and Roman approval are both required.

Cardinal Gerhard Müller, former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, says "Neither the Pope nor we bishops can redefine the sacraments as a means of alleviating mental distress and satisfying spiritual needs.

"They are effective signs of the grace of God."

The Code of Canon Law already provides that in the danger of death or if "some other grave necessity urges it," Catholic ministers licitly administer penance, Eucharist, and anointing of the sick to Protestants.

This can only be in cases where the person "cannot approach a minister of their own community and who seek such on their own accord, provided that they manifest Catholic faith in respect to these sacraments and are properly disposed."

Source

Intercommunion - Cardinal Marx and Pope Francis

non-Catholic - CathNews New Zealand

Communion policy must be resolved locally says Pope

Intercommunion - Cardinal Marx and Pope Francis