Dublin’s archbishop has warned Church leaders not to use insensitive and over-judgemental language in debates on marriage and family. Speaking in a Lenten talk in Country Kerry, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin’s warning also extended to those he called the Church’s “self-appointed spokespeople”. “Where the Church argues from general principles, there is inevitably the feeling on the Read more
One outcome from October’s family synod could be that local bishops make decisions case-by-case on Communion for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics. That’s what Archbishop Charles Palmer-Buckle of Accra, Ghana, supports, according to an interview published on the Crux website. The archbishop said he believes this is a result Pope Francis wants from the synod Read more
The Catholic Church must find ways of welcoming divorced and remarried, and gay Catholics, Pope Francis said. The Pontiff made the comments in a wide-ranging interview by Argentine daily, La Nacion. Addressing the turmoil his papacy is causing with conservative-minded groups, Francis says he’s pleased the issues are in the open. It’s a “good sign” that Read more
In 1972, less than five years before his nomination as bishop and cardinal, when he was still a member of the international theological commission set up by Paul VI, Joseph Ratzinger expressed himself in favour of admitting remarried divorcees to the sacrament of the Eucharist. This was on the condition that a couple’s second union Read more
In modifying a 1972 essay on divorced and remarried Catholics, Pope Emeritus Benedict may be breaking his retirement vow to not the play an active role in Church affairs. In 1972, Fr Joseph Ratzinger originally wrote that marriage was indissoluble in the eyes of the Church, but if a “second marriage has proven to have Read more
Estimates vary as to the proportion of marriages in the US that end in divorce but some analysts put it as high as half, So in 2012 Glynda Rhodes launched a new company – The Divorce Party Planner – and the business has boomed ever since, a situation mirrored at similar firms in Vegas and Read more
We are facing a global crisis in marriage. The factors contributing to the crisis are complex. They span generations and virtually every human institution: families, peer groups, schools, churches, work environments, law, and culture. As scholars and marriage advocates from around the world consider new initiatives to strengthen marriages and families, it may be helpful Read more
The new Archbishop of Sydney says that the biggest challenge facing the family today is that modernity has forgotten how to love. In an opinion piece on abc.net, Archbishop-elect Anthony Fisher wrote that “modernity struggles with any kind of love that goes beyond feelings”. “People today are less and less willing to commit, for the Read more
An English cardinal says that during the synod on the family, he developed his thinking on ways towards Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried. Cardinal Vincent Nichols said he had developed his understanding of how the divorced and remarried could undergo a penitential path. This in turn could lead them being re-admitted to the Read more
A senior German cardinal has emphasised that Church doctrine can change over time. Speaking at a press briefing last Friday, before the synod on the family delivered its final report, Cardinal Reinhard Marx said the Church’s doctrine can develop. “Saying that the doctrine will never change is a restrictive view of things,” Cardinal Marx said. Read more