The holy sacrifice of the Eucharist must be celebrated in bread and wine, to which a small quantity of water is added, as per the present Code of Canon Law. The wine used must be natural, from the fruit of the grape, pure and incorrupt, and not mixed with other substances.

"Wine represents the blood of Christ. And there is a reason wine is mixed with water during Eucharist because during the death of Jesus on the Cross the soldiers pierced his sides, and blood and water gushed out," said one Catholic believer.

Read More

Stephanie Rieth (pictured) began her new role in April, in the German Diocese of Mainz.

She says she's not surprised by the lack of reaction in Rome to the new arrangement, although it constitutes a unique "model" in Germany.

"I am not surprised ... because the possibility of creating this office lies within the scope of the power of each diocesan bishop," she says.

"Nevertheless, it needs courage, because it is about a change in the Church's understanding of leadership."

The Code of Canon Law says bishops must appoint a vicar general to help them administer their dioceses.

The Code also sets out the personal and professional qualities expected of vicars general.

They must be "priests not less than 30 years old, doctors or licensed in canon law or theology or at least truly expert in these disciplines, and recommended by sound doctrine, integrity, prudence, and experience in handling matters."

When Rieth was appointed, the Mainz diocese explained its Bishop Peter Kohlgraf had issued a decree in the official gazette setting out the new office's legal basis.

"As the representative of the vicar general, Rieth will not only be able to represent him in all matters internally and externally, but will also independently carry out the vicar general's tasks in his place," the diocese said.

"This authorisation does not affect tasks or activities that are reserved for a cleric because of their sacramental or liturgical connection."

The vicar general's office automatically ends with the current bishop's resignation. The decree stated that the vicar general's representative would remain in office when the see falls vacant.

A description of Rieth's role on Mainz diocese's website says while there is "a kind of dual leadership" between the vicar general and Reith as his representative, "nothing is taken away from the office of the vicar general."

"He authorises and can also decide on the scope of the authorisation," it says. "This is the basis of canon law."

"Together with the auxiliary bishop ... I want to use the framework provided by canon law to the full, and to develop it to the best of my ability," says Rieth.

"But we deliberately do not go beyond that, because we want to show: Reform is possible, within the system."

The controversial German "synodal way" is currently seeking greater lay involvement in Church governance.

Delegates recently backed a proposal for a permanent "synodal council" composed of lay people and bishops.

They would "take fundamental decisions of supra-diocesan significance on pastoral planning, future perspectives and budgetary issues of the Church that are not decided at the level of the dioceses."

In July the Vatican said the synodal way has no power "to compel the bishops and the faithful to adopt new ways of governance and new approaches to doctrine and morals."

Source

• The Pillar

Survivor advocates are critical of the move, saying providing guidance could help cast accused priests in an overly sympathetic light.

The Association of US Catholic Priests (AUSCP) say the guidance is necessary.

It notes over the last 20 years diocesan leaders have failed to respect priests' rights under canon law. In some cases the accused clerics have languished in administrative "limbo" for several years while civil and church authorities investigate allegations.

The AUSCP is mailing the guidelines and an accompanying wallet-sized card to the United States' 30,000-plus diocesan and religious priests.

"We're not taking a position on whether someone is guilty or not guilty. We're saying there's due process, here's what it is, and we will help you access it if you don't get that help from your diocese," AUSCP says.

AUSCP members say they're not looking to deflect attention from survivors or obstruct investigations of clergy sex abuse. Abusers should be held accountable for their crimes, they stress.

The critics

While they agree that due process is important, clergy sexual abuse survivors and their advocates say placing too much emphasis on the accused priests' plight risks a return the days of dismissing victims and protecting abusers.

Falsely accused priests' anguish is "minor compared with the pain, the loss and the betrayal experienced by survivors, their families and their parish communities," says one concerned commentator.

Another cited research that he said underscores the reality that the ranks of clergy sex abuse survivors outnumber those of falsely-accused priests" by an order of magnitude.

"We recognise that anyone accused of a crime in America has a right to due process.

"We also reaffirm that we believe survivors and will support those who come forward with allegations of abuse as, far more likely than not, their stories are true."

Justice

"I don't try to get guilty priests [acquitted], that's not my job," says a member of Justice for Priests and Deacons, an organisation that advises clergy members of their canonical rights.

Other members say clergy have rights under canon law. But Church leaders have often disregarded those rights, especially over the 20 years since the US bishops adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.

The AUSCP agrees. "Perhaps the pendulum has gone too far the other way ... where you're guilty until proven innocent, which is the exact opposite of what's fair and just."

A civil and canon lawyer not affiliated with the AUSCP says he sees the initiative as "an attempt to bring the pendulum back a little bit more towards the middle, where it should be.

"The investigation should be made before you take action against the priest."

"No bishop wants to keep in place someone who does turn out to be an abuser of children," he said. "The problem is that not every charge is true."

Source

• NCR Online

The letter, known as Recognitum Librum VI and issued motu proprio (on the pope's "own impulse") on April 26, modifies one sentence from canon 695 of the Code of Canon Law.

The pope explained that the modification makes the line consistent with the major revisions made last year to Book VI of the code's penal law, which classified some crimes differently and introduced new crimes.

Read More