In an interview in the German daily Die Welt on April 24, Cardinal Raymond Burke renewed his attack on Cardinal Walter Kasper, whose ‘merciful’ solution for remarried divorcees who wish to receive Communion was discussed at last October’s extraordinary synod.
“We are bound by the Magisterium. But some Synod Fathers, above all Cardinal Kasper, want to change it.” He added: “Clashes at synods are nothing unusual. Think of the early councils, the Arian heresy, for instance, when Athanasius even became physically aggressive.”
The cardinal said a change to Church teaching at the next synod in October would present him with a dilemma: “I would have to speak to the Holy Father and ask him how I can remain loyal to the truth and at the same time not break my vow of obedience,” he said. “That is why I speak out so clearly. The Holy Father should know that not everyone thinks like Cardinal Kasper.”
The attack against Kasper, nicknamed ‘the Pope’s theologian’, is seen as part of the different factions’ posturing in preparation for next October’s extraordinary synod.
Theologian advances compromise solution
Swiss Dominican theologian Fr Thomas Michelet has suggested a new approach to pastoral care for divorced and remarried Catholics that stops short of that proposed by Cardinal Kasper and others, which includes receiving the Eucharist.
Writing in Nova & Vetera, Michelet proposed an ordo paenitentium, an ongoing penitential process for Catholics who cannot reconcile their lives with the fundamental moral laws of the Church.
Borrowing ideas from the way confession was practised in the early Church, his solution would offer a “journey of conversion” in which penitents would be supported but may not receive communion.
‘Be active in politics’
Answering questions of members of Italy’s Christian Life Community and the Student Missionary League – groups inspired by Ignatian spirituality – Pope Francis said Catholics must get involved in politics even if it may be “dirty”, frustrating and fraught with failure.
He said that many problems were unfolding in the world and today’s “throwaway” culture. “Do I as a Catholic watch from my balcony? No, you can’t watch from the balcony. Get right in there!” he said.
Paradox of abundance
Safeguarding the planet and sharing its resources instead of destroying it was the appeal Pope Francis made during a live video message inaugurating Expo 2015 in Milan.
He pressed both the organisers and those who visiting the expo to show real concern for the poor and to undertake concrete efforts to promote solidarity. Otherwise, he said, the world’s fair could be part of the “paradox of abundance” that St John Paul II denounced when he noted how a small percentage of the world’s people had much more than they needed to live while so many people are starving.
He said that all should make a real effort to keep in mind “the faces of the men and women who are hungry and who become sick or even die because of poor and bad nutrition”.
The Pope’s prayer intentions for May
The Pope’s universal prayer intention for May is: “That, rejecting the culture of indifference, we may care for our neighbours who suffer, especially the sick and the poor”.
His intention for evangelisation is: “That Mary’s intercession may help Christians in secularised cultures be open to proclaiming Jesus”.
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)