German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich, blesses Catholics
Pope to German Bishops: find possibly unanimous arrangement
A group of German Bishops meet in the Vatican for a conversation on pastoral proposals concerning mixed marriages and allowing non-Catholic spouses to receive Holy Communion.
By Vatican News
At a meeting in the Vatican on Thursday, senior Vatican officials and members of the German Bishops conference held a conversation on a set of pastoral guidelines announced in February. The German Bishops’ Conference at the time approved the development of the guidelines, which would potentially broaden permission for non-Catholic Christians who are married to Catholics to receive Holy Communion.
A cordial and fraternal atmosphere
According to a statement from the Holy See Press Office, released in the wake of the encounter, the meeting took place in a “cordial and fraternal atmosphere.”
The German Bishops had been called to Rome by Pope Francis after “a not inconsiderable number” of Bishops expressed their opposition to the proposed guidelines. Seven diocesan Bishops appealed to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts for clarification.
"Find a possibly unanimous arrangement"
During the conversation, which took place in German, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Luis Ladaria, explained that Pope Francis “appreciates the ecumenical commitment of the German Bishops” and asks them to seek “a possibly unanimous arrangement”.
The Press Office statement said that during the meeting, various points of view were discussed, concerning, for example, how the question of extending permission to receive Holy Communion relates to the Faith and to pastoral care; the relevance of the question to the universal Church; and various juridical aspects of the question. “Archbishop Ladaria will inform the Holy Father about the content of the conversation,” the statement said.
Who was there
Thursday’s meeting took place at the seat of the Congregation for the Congregation for the Faith. The following German Bishops were present for the conversation: Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising and President of the German Bishops’ Conference; Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, Archbishop of Cologne; Bishop Felix Genn of Münster; Bishop Karl Heinz Wiesemann, Bishop of Speyer and president of the doctrinal commission of the Conference; Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer, Bishop of Regensburg and vice president of the doctrinal commission; Bishop Gerhard Feige, Bishop of Magdeburg and president of the Conference’s commission on ecumenism; and Fr Hans Langendorfer, SJ, secretary of the Bishops’ Conference.
In addition to Archbishop Ladaria, the Holy See was represented by Cardinal Kurt Koch, the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity; Msgr Markus Graulich, SDB, Under-secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts; and Fr Hermann Geissler, FSO, head of the office for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
13 comments:
This is the sort of thing that makes Pope Francis inscrutable for me. He sants to allow all sorts of variety then asks the bishops to contrive a set of rules allowing communion for non-Catholics that is clearly a case-by-case basis. Nuts.
How the Church has fallen since Vatican Disaster II. Prior to this Council, the Church preached against mixed marriages and strongly encouraged the non-Catholic spouse to convert. A Church that does not believe in its mission enough to ask this, is going to continue to shrink. I could care less about the German Church. They haven't had a real fighter for the Faith since Blessed Bishop Galen, the Lion of Munster. The Archbishop of Munich should do the Church a favor, resign and open a brat stand.
I think the thing that bothers me most about these guys is that they clearly don't actually believe in Catholicism, yet they lack the integrity to simply leave. It's pretty nefarious to go on collecting a salary and take free travel from an institution whose mission one doesn't buy into.
TJM:
"A Church that does not believe in its mission enough ..."
Under this papacy, the Church brings Vatican II to fruition, that she no longer believes that extra ecclesiam nulla salus. That is exactly what the St Gallen group wanted. Otherwise the St Gallen pope would have told the Germans very quickly that this issue of inter-Communion is not a matter of consensus. Inter-Communion with the Lutherans is just another neo-Modernist opening in the door, by the way. One may as well become one of the nones now because they will be saved through good works anyways, not having to waste time and money to go to a place of worship or worry about different religions.
Cardinal Marx if not a relative of Karl, recently reportedly embraced the latter in an ideological way. If that report is accurate (which I do not have the evidence to say either way), he should be defrocked and prohibited to act even as a sacristan at his current cathedral. To paraphrase, can somebody free us from this marxist Marx!?
Let's see.... no answer on the dubia.... no answer on communion for non-Catholics.... wow! When pope Francis said "who am I to judge?" he wasn't kidding. I just didn't think he would extend it to everything.
At one time I expected popes to actually shepherd us sheep and reinforce doctrine and correct errors.... I was so naive.
It soon will not matter where you go to Church. If the Church actually pulls this crap, I'll go back to Calvinism/Presbyterianism.
Surprise surprise, once again Francis fails to uphold Church Teaching. Will someone rid us of this man.
Gene,
Kavanaugh is there to greet you when you return!!!
Germany has seven ecclesiastical provinces (archbishoprics) - Bamberg, Berlin, Freiburg, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich & Freising and Paderborn. Two archbishops (Cologne and Bamberg) oppose Marx's intercommunion proposals. In the province of Munich & Freising, in addition the the archbishopric, there are three dioceses: Augsburg, Passau and Regensburg. Their respective bishops have all come out against the Marx proposals, as well as a former bishop of Regensburg, Gerhard Müller. Of the other dissenting bishops, Eichstätt is in Bamberg province and Görlitz in that of Berlin.
The German Bishops' Conference includes co-adjutor and auxiliary bishops, as well as diocesan administrators. So it is not the number of dissenters which is significant, it is their relative seniority.
Marx made headlines earlier this year regarding the blessing of same-sex unions, saying 'there can be no rules'. More recently he has criticized the Bavarian government's decision to place crucifixes in public buildings, calling it 'divisive'. Other Bavarian bishops do not agree.
Let's not forget who appointed Marx to Munich - it was a former holder of the see, Benedict XVI. He must have done his homework. I get the impression that Marx has overplayed his hand and risks embarrassing PF (who probably agrees with him but can't publicly admit the fact).
For your consideration from Pastor aeternus - "For the Holy Spirit was promised to the successors of Peter not so that they might, by his revelation, make known some new doctrine, but that, by his assistance, they might religiously guard and faithfully expound the revelation or deposit of faith transmitted by the apostles."
This document is part of the magisterium of the Church I hope survives this papacy.
Pope Francis do Your job, otherwise resign
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