The Gospel of the Family is the title of an address that Cardinal Walter Kasper delivered to the College of Cardinals on February 20.

He said on Vatican Radio that the Church needs to find a middle ground for its attitude to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics who wish to receive communion. This middle ground maintains traditional doctrine, but offers a ‘renewed’ interpretation of Church teaching.

“I propose a path that goes beyond strictness and leniency,” the German cardinal and theologian said during his intervention. He insisted that his approach “isn’t against morality, it isn’t against doctrine, but rather, (is meant) to support a realistic application of doctrine to the current situation of the great majority of people and to contribute to people’s happiness”. Kasper said this approach is needed as “there is a difficulty, an abyss” between Church teaching and the actual situation of many people.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian bishops’ conference, Kasper said women should be involved in the preparation for the Synod of Bishops on the family and have a greater role in the Roman Curia.

“Without women, the family simply does not exist,” he said. “It is senseless to talk about the family without listening to them.”

German bishop demands change

Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier, Germany, in an interview with the Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz, said the unpopularity of Church teachings on sexuality indicates that changes are needed.

Ackermann said the general rejection of Church teaching on contraception shows that the teaching is no longer tenable.

He also called for reconsideration of Church teachings regarding extramarital sex, homosexual unions and divorce.

In a quick reaction, bishops Heinz Josef Algermissen of Fulda and Konrad Zdarsa of Augsburg showed their total disagreement. They said Catholic doctrine cannot be altered by popular opinion.

On the other hand, Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg, defended Ackermann’s position.

He said the Church cannot “keep on repeating prohibitions or reservations”.

‘Church will not change doctrine on divorce, remarriage’

In an interview with US Catholic newpaper National Catholic Register, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, contradicted speculation that the Church would change its teaching about the reception of communion by Catholics who are divorced and remarried.

“The idea that doctrine can be separated from the pastoral practice of the Church has become prevalent in some circles. This is not, and never has been, the Catholic faith.”

Müller said the pastoral care that both Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI had shown for divorced and remarried Catholics should not be mistaken as a sign that the Church will change its teaching. While accepting that there are several reports pointing in a different direction, Müller said that “sometimes it is necessary to distinguish between reality and its presentation in the media”.

Boko Horam kill over 500 Nigerian Catholics

According to Catholic news agency Fides, over 500 Catholics have been killed in Nigeria by Boko Haram. The terrorist organisation has also destroyed 20 churches and rectories. The report is based on numbers furnished by Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme of Maiduguri, a diocese in northeast Nigeria. Maiduguri has suffered the brunt of Boko Haram’s terror campaign.

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)