PASTORAL THEOLOGY CAN NEVER BECOME DOCTRINE OR DOGMA

When I was younger, very young, I remember that there was a debate in Italy concerning divorce. The Church in Italy was vehemently opposed to supporting the government's desire that divorce be made legal. My Italian mother and my conservative American father were in favor of legal divorce in Italy although both were opposed to divorce as the Catholic Church teaches.

Why were they in favor of legal divorce in Italy? (My father lived in Italy from about 1943 to 1956)because both my parents knew that marriages were ending and Italians were separating and there was no legal protection for ex-spouses (normally the ex-wife) and their children. Couples were leaving each other and moving in with their paramours. In other words, the husband usually abandoned the wife and his children and had no legal requirement to provide alimony or financial and moral support to his children.

The secular aspects of what happens when a husband and father abandons wife and children should be decided by the state, not the Church. The Church surely forbids a man from abandoning is wife and children but the Church has no authority to make him care for them once he abandons. The state can do that and should be the responsible party to enforce it.

The Church today in various parts of the world (meaning bishops including the pope) need to be very careful about how they promote the plan of God for marriage and that they not enter into a losing debate about the fringe benefits of marriage as it regards money and other certain rights associated with marriage. These properly belong to the state to decide.

The Church may oppose using the term "marriage" to describe what is essentially a civil union. However, we have thrown in the towel for heterosexual civil unions recognized by the state which the state calls marriage. As Catholics, we believe that one cannot enter a second marriage if the first marriage bond still exists in the moral sense. We have not made calling these second legal unions a marriage a big deal, we ignore it. But has it regards a second marriage made by anyone who has a first marriage where the spouse is still living, that second marriage is not a marriage, it is a union, a legal union, but morally that person is considered "living in sin."

The same may have to become the case for civil unions allowed homosexual couples. These will be called marriages by the states that allowed them as they already are. The media is promoting this as often as possible. There really isn't anything the Church can do about that--it is a civil, secular issue.

As it concerns the legal rights of homosexual couples, whether that relationship is chaste or non-sexual or not is really up to the state and the political processes to decide. Certainly anyone in a civil union or partnership, whether it has a sexual component or not should have some recognized civil rights and legal benefits that could include money and the rights accorded to family members as it concerns hospital visitation and "power of attorney" when one becomes incapacitated. If a legal partner is entitled to the benefits of retirement and social security of their partner, the state needs to decide that, not the Church.

What the Church must make abundantly clear is the decision each Catholic must make when they present themselves for Holy Communion. Are they in a state of grace or not? If not, they must repent of any personal mortal sin through sacramental Penance and make a firm resolve not to sin again. For those who cannot make that firm resolve, such as heterosexuals in a non-sanctioned marriage (considered so by the Church), they must refrain from Holy Communion. This applies to both heterosexuals and homosexuals. There should be no difference in who is eligible for Holy Communion based upon sexual orientation, if one is not chaste and has no intention of being chaste outside of the context of a sacramental or Church recognized marriage, they should not receive Holy Communion.

How a priest deals with that enters into the realm of pastoral theology. Most of us would prefer not to make that a matter of the external forum in our parishes, but to keep it in the internal forum, private and secret. I know of many heterosexual couples who are in non-sanctioned second marriages who present themselves for Holy Communion even though they know what the Church teaches. No one in the parish knows of their situation usually. So their decision to go to Holy Communion is between them and God and they will have to answer for it come their personal judgement.