Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, warned that the current controversies about marriage and sexuality can split the Church in two.
Müller, as always critical of German bishops, said their attempt to claim a leadership role in defining policy for the universal Church should be seen in the light of the mass exodus from the German Catholic Church. His undertones where that a church that is losing so many members can afford to lecture others.
Müller said the Church should not accept the secularising trend that is most evident in western Europe, because it is not an “inevitable natural process”.
Pro and con for change
The arguments between those favouring a change in the position of the Church on the reception of communion in limited circumstances by the divorced and remarried and those against any changes is getting harsher.
Supporters of the status quo have published a number of books to outline their position. September will see the publication of Eleven Cardinals Speak on Marriage and the Family. Essays from a Pastoral Viewpoint.
On the other hand, two new books from authors closely affiliated with the bishops’ conferences of German and Switzerland have argued for dramatic changes in Church teaching on marriage and human sexuality.
Bishops’ ‘electoral programme’
The Canadian Catholic Bishops have issued a document aimed at guiding Catholic voters’ behaviour in the country’s federal elections next month.
Voting with discernment is the cornerstone of the document issued by the Commission for Justice and Peace of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB).
Titled 2015 Federal Election Guide, the commission’s document lists some basic principles from Catholic moral and social teaching to help voters analyse and evaluate public policies and programmes.
The right to life for the unborn child and an opposition to both euthanasia and assisted suicide legislation are among the most important points in the document. The Commission for Justice and Peace takes a position against capital punishment, and urges Catholics to look for candidates who campaign in favour of reducing the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.
While recognising that there are times when “choices may prove very difficult”, the Commission recalls that: “It is a sign of a healthy community when informed and responsible citizens engage in an ongoing dialogue on major social issues with their political leaders.”
Pope praises synodality
In a written discourse to Portuguese bishops, the Pope praised the growth of synodality as a style of pastoral life in the country’s particular churches and various initiatives, including the general enquiry on the beliefs and faith of the Portuguese people, the first response to which is the note ‘Promoting pastoral renewal in the Church in Portugal’ issued in April 2013.
However, the Pope notes the abandonment of Christian practice by young people after their confirmation, precisely at an age at which they take up the reins of future life, and asked if this is perhaps due to a failure of catechesis to grow with them and to respond to their questions and concerns. He therefore invited the bishops to rethink the question of a global catechetical path covering different ages and offers them encouragement, recalling that the Lord assures His constant presence and His infallible assistance to the Church.
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)