Bishop Franz-Josef Bode of Osnabruck said it was possible to see strengths as well as weaknesses in both gay relationships and in those of cohabiting heterosexuals.

He said that the Catholic Church could not accept same-sex marriage.

But the bishop said the Church was bound not to discriminate against homosexuals, as noted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Therefore it should do more to support those who were in stable unions.

He said: "With prayer and a private form of blessing you will be able to accompany their way."

Continue reading

Speaking to Die Tagespost on June 6, Cardinal Gerhard Müller rejected placing "any so-called lived realities" on the same level as Scripture and tradition.

This is "nothing more than the introduction of subjectivism and arbitrariness, wrapped up in sentimental and smug religious terminology", he said.

The cardinal's comments have been seen as a criticism of a "shadow council" held recently in Rome involving some bishops, theologians and priests.

This event, held at the Pontifical Gregorian University on May 25, discussed how the Church could adapt its pastoral approach to lived experiences, especially regarding sexual ethics.

German Bishop Franz-Josef Bode, who was at the event, reportedly said that the "lived realities" of people should be a source of information for dogmatic and moral truths.

But Cardinal Müller stressed that these "lived realities" can sometimes be very pagan.

The cardinal said the faith cannot be the result of a compromise between acceptable Christian ideas, abstract principles and the practice of a pagan lifestyle.

Speaking of the Gregorian meeting, Cardinal Müller said it is right to exchange information on any point or major issue.

But he added that one cannot organise the truth.

If this principle were to be adopted and taken as true by the Church, leading her to take her cue from public opinion, then the Church would be "shaken to her foundations", he said.

The Catholic Church is mother and teacher of all churches, he said, one that teaches and is not taught.

"She does not need anybody - as superior and as adapted to our times he might think he is - to teach her a notion of the right faith, because in her, the apostolic tradition has been faithfully safeguarded and always will be preserved."

He added that Rome will strengthen bishops' freedom and responsibility, according to a National Catholic Register report.

But this will be threatened by "nostalgias for national churches and by the haggling over social acceptance", the cardinal said.

Sources

• National Catholic Register
• Image: Lifesitenews

According to the Catholic News Agency, Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes wrote a letter to a German language newspaper objecting to statements by two prelates from his homeland.

In February, German bishops' conference president Cardinal Reinhard Marx said: "We are not a branch of Rome."

"We cannot wait for a synod to tell us how we have to shape pastoral care for marriage and family here," Cardinal Marx said.

Bishop Franz-Josef Bode of Osnabruck - a fellow synod delegate with Cardinal Marx - urged that "the reality of men and the world" be a source for theological understanding.

Cardinal Cordes, who is president emeritus of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, stated if Cardinal Marx wanted to put up Germany as an example, he is being fooled by wishful thinking.

Cardinal Cordes, 80, noted that a recent survey shows that only 16 per cent of Catholics in western Germany believe God to be personal.

"The existing German ecclesial apparatus is completely unfit to work against growing secularism," he wrote.

He also slammed Cardinal Marx's comment about not being a branch of Rome as more suited "to the counter of a bar".

"The president argues about the drama of the divorced and remarried.

"This matter reaches far beyond regional particularities of a pragmatic nature, of a given mentality and cultural background."

"This matter is bound to the very centre of theology," Cardinal Cordes wrote.

"In this field not even a cardinal can loosen such a complex Gordian knot in a single sword stroke. He has the sacramental theology of the Council of Trent."

In response to Bishop Bode's comments, Cardinal Cordes stated Vatican II taught would be erroneous to see the "signs of the times" in the life of people simply as a "source of faith".

In contrast, he noted, the Second Vatican Council's dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, Dei Verbum, "leaves no doubt that faith in the Catholic Church feeds solely from Sacred Scripture and the Magisterium".

Sources

• Catholic News Agency
• The Tablet
• Image: Lifesitenews