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The responses of the episcopal conference to the presynodal questionnaire describe what is already being done in Germany: communion for the divorced and remarried, tolerance for second marriages, approval of homosexual unions
ROME, May 6, 2015 – To judge by the latest product of the German episcopal conference, the synod on the family scheduled for October 4-25 could turn out to be a wasted effort.
Cardinal Reinhard Marx (in the photo), archbishop of Munich and president of the episcopal conference, had made this clear last February 25 with a remark that made its way around the world:
“We are not a subsidiary of Rome. Every episcopal conference is responsible for pastoral care in its own cultural context, and must preach the Gospel in its own original way. We cannot wait for a synod to tell us how we must shape the pastoral care of marriage and the family.”
But now it is Germany’s episcopal conference itself that has set this same concept down in black and white, in its official response - after consulting the “people of God” - to the preparatory questionnaire sent out from Rome in view of the next session of the synod.
When it comes to the question on “how to promote the determination of pastoral guidelines on the level of particular Churches,” the German bishops in fact write:
"Referring to social and cultural differences, some of the responses favour regional agreements on pastoral guidelines at local church level. The basis could also be formed by diocesan discussion processes on the topic of marriage and the family the outcome of which would be discussed with other local churches. This would be conditional on all concerned being willing to engage in a dialogue."
The formulation is a bit contorted, but the facts speak for themselves. In almost all the dioceses of Germany, sacramental absolution and Eucharistic communion are given to the divorced and remarried, as already made clear by a previous document from the German episcopal conference, approved on June 24, 2014 and proudly exhibited in Rome at last October’s session of the synod on the family:
You can read that document here:
http://www.dbk.de/fileadmin/redakti...24_Staendiger-Rat-Wiederverheiratete-ENGL.pdf
You can read the above article here:
Synod. The German Bishops Are Putting the Cart Before the Horse
You can read the German Cardinal's response here:
German prelate breaks rank with Cardinal Marx insists on fidelity to Rome Catholic News Agency CNA
ROME, May 6, 2015 – To judge by the latest product of the German episcopal conference, the synod on the family scheduled for October 4-25 could turn out to be a wasted effort.
Cardinal Reinhard Marx (in the photo), archbishop of Munich and president of the episcopal conference, had made this clear last February 25 with a remark that made its way around the world:
“We are not a subsidiary of Rome. Every episcopal conference is responsible for pastoral care in its own cultural context, and must preach the Gospel in its own original way. We cannot wait for a synod to tell us how we must shape the pastoral care of marriage and the family.”
But now it is Germany’s episcopal conference itself that has set this same concept down in black and white, in its official response - after consulting the “people of God” - to the preparatory questionnaire sent out from Rome in view of the next session of the synod.
When it comes to the question on “how to promote the determination of pastoral guidelines on the level of particular Churches,” the German bishops in fact write:
"Referring to social and cultural differences, some of the responses favour regional agreements on pastoral guidelines at local church level. The basis could also be formed by diocesan discussion processes on the topic of marriage and the family the outcome of which would be discussed with other local churches. This would be conditional on all concerned being willing to engage in a dialogue."
The formulation is a bit contorted, but the facts speak for themselves. In almost all the dioceses of Germany, sacramental absolution and Eucharistic communion are given to the divorced and remarried, as already made clear by a previous document from the German episcopal conference, approved on June 24, 2014 and proudly exhibited in Rome at last October’s session of the synod on the family:
You can read that document here:
http://www.dbk.de/fileadmin/redakti...24_Staendiger-Rat-Wiederverheiratete-ENGL.pdf
You can read the above article here:
Synod. The German Bishops Are Putting the Cart Before the Horse
You can read the German Cardinal's response here:
German prelate breaks rank with Cardinal Marx insists on fidelity to Rome Catholic News Agency CNA
