Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 4:27am

PopeWatch: Reformation II

Who needs Lutherans when we have the Catholic Church in Germany?  From Edward Pentin at National Catholic Register:

 

German bishops have voted “overwhelmingly” in favour of producing a “guide” for Protestant spouses on reception of Holy Communion under certain conditions.

At their spring conference in Ingolstadt, the German bishops’ conference agreed that a Protestant partner of a Catholic can receive the Eucharist after having made a “serious examination” of conscience with a priest or another person with pastoral responsibilities, “affirms the faith of the Catholic Church,” wishes to end “serious spiritual distress,” and has a “longing to satisfy a hunger for the Eucharist.” 

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German bishops’ conference, said Thursday that such a guide was a “positive step.” He said there had been an “intense debate” during which “serious concerns” had been raised, according to Katholisch.de, the website of the German bishops’ conference.

He added the bishops were not giving general approval but that the guide pertained to individual decisions. He said the bishops wanted to continue with this issue “in a high profile way,” but that the guide would merely be a “pastoral handout” and that “we don’t want to change any doctrine.”

The bishops believe the guidelines should help pastors to clarify whether such cases are of an exceptional kind, in line with the meaning of canon 844 § 4 which regulates when a non-Catholic may receive Holy Communion. 

The canon states:

“If the danger of death is present or if, in the judgment of the diocesan bishop or conference of bishops, some other grave necessity urges it, Catholic ministers administer these same sacraments licitly also to other Christians not having full communion with the Catholic Church, who 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.”

Cardinal Marx rejected the idea that such a step would amount to a path that would call Protestants to conversion, otherwise known as an “ecumenism of return or conversion.” In other words, he stressed that the document does not mention that Protestants may receive Holy Communion only if they convert. He also said much would be left to the discretion of the local bishop, and consequences he might draw from the guide. He said only the bishop himself may establish new laws in this area.

 

Go here to read the rest.  Will the last Catholic in Germany please turn out the lights?

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ken
ken
Tuesday, February 27, AD 2018 8:02am

So the German bishops are working to increase the amount of funds for the Church to pay hush money to the gay Roman orgy participants?

Ernst Schreiber
Ernst Schreiber
Wednesday, February 28, AD 2018 11:00am

At their spring conference in Ingolstadt, the German bishops’ conference agreed that a Protestant partner of a Catholic can receive the Eucharist after having made a “serious examination” of conscience with a priest or another person with pastoral responsibilities, “affirms the faith of the Catholic Church,” wishes to end “serious spiritual distress,” and has a “longing to satisfy a hunger for the Eucharist”

My favorite part of that?: “another person with pastoral responsibilities” –tells you everything you need to know about the vitality of the Church in Germany.

Anyways, I can see an upside to this because if the Lutheran spouse of a Catholic, in consultation with a priest (or a deacon) 1) makes a serious examination of conscience, 2) affirms the Catholic faith 3) wishes to end his or her “spiritual stress,” presumably bought about by 4) a longing of the Eucharist, then that spouse is already half-way across the Tiber and ought to be encouraged to swim ashore!

Kind of like how if everybody is taking their roles and responsibilities as seriously as they ought, then the end result of AL ch. 8 would be that the divorced & remarried would refrain from Communion until the irregularities of their situations were resolved.

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