Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Cardinal Müller: "Remarried Divorced? The Teaching of the Church is Clear -- There Will be no Division Among the Cardinals"

(Rome)   The Church proclaims what has been entrusted to her by Christ, the indissolubility of marriage. New Ways? But it is not against the word of Jesus Christ.  The problem is not the issue of remarried divorcees, the problem is the divorce. Many Catholics do not adhere to the Magisterium? That is reprehensible. Briefly summarized here are the statements of Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, as he made them in his recent interview, a few days after the speech by Cardinal Walter Kasper on "new ways" for remarried divorcees before the College of Cardinals. Here is the full interview of the Prefect of the CDF.
Last Saturday Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig  Müller of the CDF, raised by Pope Francis to the cardinalate,  presented in Rome his most recent book "Poor for the Poor. The Mission of the Church " (original title Povera per i poveri ). Published in the Vatican publishing house it was addressed by Pope Francis in the foreword. The volume contained several articles of the German Cardinal, and not least by the "father" of liberation theology, Gustavo Gutierrez, a personal friend of the Prefect of the Faith.
The book was presented by Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga and Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi.The Archbishop of Tegucigalpa and coordinator of the C8-Cardinal Council recommended recently Müller via the German media to be "flexible" in terms of the sacrament of marriage. Therefore, the book launch presented an interesting combination.
In the context of the book presentation  Cardinal Müller answered some questions for Vatican Insider about the current discussion on the family and the sacrament of marriage. These issues will be the focus of the upcoming Synod of Bishops in October and were the focus of the ordinary cardinal consistory on Thursday and Friday last week. There, another  German Cardinal Walter Kasper held the only lecture on the discussion and formulated a yes to Catholic teaching on marriage, but. The doctrine entrusted by Christ would not change in the Church and the Church could not change, but ... And this "but" that had previously inspired and demanded by German bishops, now the whole discussion revolves around this. Can there ever be a "but", there should be such, if so, what content should this "but" have. Cardinal Kasper spoke of a second marriage being impossible in the Church, because the indissolubility of marriage according to Jesus, is considered. But he could but imagine the re-admission to Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried after a season of penance.  In contrast, this already excited pages of other strong objections at the Consistory of Cardinals, starting with the observation that for the Church "remarried divorcees" do not exist. The criticism prompted Pope Francis on the morning of the second day Consistory to pronounce unusual praise for Cardinal Kasper. The head of the Church was not bending to Kasper's points, but described it as fundamentally a "theology on its knees" and thus signaled special benevolence.
Can this happen to grant remarried divorcees Communion?
The divorce is not a way for the Church. The Church is for the indissolubility of marriage. I have written a lot, and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has written many documents, the Second Vatican Council has said a lot about marriage and the teaching of the Church is very clear.
So you conclude from that that remarried divorcees can be readmitted to Communion?
It's not about my opinion. We have the teaching of the Church, which is also expressed in the Catechism, in the Council of Trent, in the Vatican Council, in other explanations of our Congregation. Pastoral care can not have a different orientation than  doctrine. Doctrine and pastoral are one and the same. Jesus Christ as Shepherd and Jesus Christ as Master with His Word are not different people.
The Pope spoke of an intelligent, creative family ministry full of love: Can there be new ways?
New ways yes, but not against the will of Jesus. The mercy of God is in no way contrary to the righteousness of God. Marriage is a sacrament that creates an indissoluble bond between the two spouses. New ways need to deepen the knowledge of doctrine. Many  do not know this and think that marriage is a festival only celebrated in the Church. However, the spouses give their word, to live completely  together, in body, sexuality, in spirit, in Faith and God's Grace. We need to help those people who are in a very difficult situation, but if the marriage is indissoluble, we can not dissolve the marriage. Divorce is not a solution, because the dogma of the Church is not any theory of some theologian, but the teaching of the Church is nothing other than the word of Jesus Christ, which is very clear. I can not change the Church's teaching.
The questionnaire prepared by the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops has been sent to all dioceses of the world, which brought to light that many Catholics in various countries, do not follow the Magisterium of the Church in many things: birth control, marriage ...
It is reprehensible that they do not know the teachings of the Church. We can not reduce the revelation and words of Jesus Christ not  because Catholics, and were there many, who do not know the reality. There are many who do not participate in Sunday Mass because they do not know what value it has for their lives and often do not know that there  is even a duty. But we can not say that  for that reason the Mass is less important! It would be paradoxical if the Church would say, because many do not know the truth, that in the future, the truth is no longer binding.
Can it come  to a split among the cardinals on these themes?
No, the Church's teaching is clear. We must strive to provide pastoral care for marriage, but not just for the divorced and remarried, but for those who live in matrimony. We can not always focus on this single question ourselves whether they are allowed to receive communion or not. The problems and the wounds are the divorce, the children who no longer have their parents but have to live with other than their biological parents: these are the problems.
Introduction / Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Concilio e-mail Concilio
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMGD

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hundreds of Church teachings and he can only defend one of them.

Darned auto type.

Tancred said...

Only one is being called into question. I for one am astonished by his uncompromising alacrity.

TLMWx said...

I'm still unclear. Did he say yes to illicit communion or no? :-)

Deacon Augustine said...

I concur - he was remarkably forthright and clear. He appears to have drawn a line in the sand, any breach of which would amount to heresy or schism. I was also encouraged by his statement that fidelity to the Church is fidelity to Jesus Christ. That has not been spelt out so clearly for a long time in many places.

Deacon Augustine said...

He clearly said "No":

"Pastoral care can not have a different orientation than doctrine. Doctrine and pastoral are one and the same. Jesus Christ as Shepherd and Jesus Christ as Master with His Word are not different people."

TLMWx said...

Deacon Augustine I would agree that he clearly said:
"Pastoral care can not have a different orientation than doctrine. Doctrine and pastoral are one and the same. Jesus Christ as Shepherd and Jesus Christ as Master with His Word are not different people."

Which you have taken as a clear no. He was not clear in saying "No" at all.

Tancred said...

Looks like no to me.

Lynda said...

It wasn't explicit but implied. I would rather he make it an explicit statement - repeatedly!