The Ongoing Saga

Damien Thompson's most recent article in The Spectator has received some coverage in the last few hours. Both the guys over at Creative Minority Report and Fr Z devote posts to it. Thompson is writing on the German Bishops' attempts to force a change in Church teaching with regard to the Eucharist for the divorced and remarried.

There is enough being said there and Thompson's article is comprehensive. So just for the record, for those poor souls who might be confused.  

The Church's position emerges from divine law, uttered by Jesus Christ himself and laid out most explicitly in the Gospels. If Christians are not happy with that law they have to take it up with God and argue with him. 

If the Church were to change her law she would be committing an act of infidelity to Christ and would no longer be the Church, the bride of Christ. Scripture uses other quite explicit images for the people of God who break covenant with him, see the Prophet Hosea for an example.

Compassion is grounded in truth. There is no compassion in leading people into sin and perdition.

All the so-called progress in worldly terms will never negate a teaching of Christ: his teachings do not need updating, they are uttered by the Eternal God. We must change, not God nor his teachings.  God is God, he does not change his mind, what he uttered in and through his Word is eternal teaching.

All the money in the world cannot be used to justify defying the law of God. Those who try to use their wealth and power to force people to abandon the true faith and the commandments laid down by God are guilt of serious sin and, as Jesus himself said, it would have been better that they had never been born rather than lead any of the little ones astray. A millstone will be put around their neck and they will be thrown into the sea.

Bishops are entrusted with preaching the truth, if they fail in that they will be judged severely at their personal judgment and it will effect their personal salvation.  

And for those anxious about the Church:

We must trust in God: the gates of hell will not prevail. Have faith. 

If others are unfaithful, even bishops, you must be faithful.

Pray for the bishops of the Church, especially those in Germany.

Pray for the Pope, do not rebel, he is the Vicar of Christ and the Holy Spirit will ensure he will not betray the Gospel. If the Holy Father's children abandon him, he is left alone. This is the time to gather around the Pope and encourage him to stand firm against those who are trying to force him to do what is contrary to the Lord's teaching.

Enough said for now. Let us be vigilant in prayer, faithful in our observance, prudent in judgment, and above all, charitable. And may God forgive us all for the times we have failed in these.

Reform? What About That German Tax?

As the Synod is discussing issues concerning marriage and the family, we will expect the German bishops to push for communion for the divorced and civilly remarried as they have done so far in the months leading up to the meeting. However, I draw your attention to an article by Amy Welborn in which reflects on the German Church tax which has enriched the Church in Germany. She notes that as the German bishops lobby for communion for those in irregular relationships, they refuse the Eucharist, and other sacraments, to those Catholics who do not pay the Church tax. What do you call that?

Given his example and his urging poverty on the Church, I think Pope Francis will have to tackle this issue. Is it not time that the obligatory tax be abolished? The bishops of Germany have been dogged in their refusal to do so, but perhaps Francis should be even more dogged in his efforts to make them toe the line. The Church in Germany is not to have special privileges because of its wealth, yet many in the Church have concluded that the vast donations flowing down from the Rhine into the Tiber have led to expectations among the Germans, particularly those not known for their orthodoxy. Time to dam that flow. 

Having listening to Francis's words on poverty and simplicity, I expect him to deal with this issue sooner rather than later.

The Poorer Church...

There is another issue which I have been pondering, and it is not unrelated to that just mentioned in my last post: the issue of the Church tax in Germany. 

At the moment the German government requires its citizens to declare which Church they are members of, if they are members, and a percentage of their salary is then taken at source and passed on to their Church.  This is the main source of income for the Church in Germany, and it has made the Church there very wealthy.  German Catholics who object to this have no option but to formally leave the Church in order to prevent the tax being taken from their salary.  Not an ideal situation. 

The Church in Germany has since become a major contributor to the Holy See, passing on large donations from the funds it has collected in taxes.  Now given the nature of the human condition, I’m sure we all know the effects such generous donations can have, and so when the phrase “The Rhine flows into the Tiber” is mentioned, a number of things are implied.  The Papacy may well, at times, have found itself under pressure from the north, and that is not good.  Is such pressure being applied now in the issue of Communion for the divorced and remarriage, an issue close to the hearts of the German bishops?  One couldn’t possibly speculate. 

The Church tax is problematic; being in the pay of the secular authorities, or relying on it for one’s income, has never been good for the Church.  Often bishops and priests have been tempted to side with the source of income when disputes arose between secular powers and the faith.  There is also the concern that if a tax is being collected and paid to the Church, the expectations and desires of those who pay it may assume more importance than the Gospel.  In our consumerist age those who pay expect a service and expect it to be carried out in the a particular manner which accords with those expectations.  If these expectations and desires are out of synch with Church teaching, that puts pastors who rely on the tax in a dilemma: what do they do?

I personally believe the Church in Germany must renounce the Church tax and rely, as the Church does almost everywhere else, on voluntary donations.  Yes, it may well mean a poorer Church in Germany, but also a freer Church, one where the paymaster does not decide the direction the Church goes in, but rather the Gospel.  Pope Francis, with his emphasis on poverty, is the very man who could persuade the German bishops to renounce it.

Germans Say Pope Endorses Their Plans

 

The Germans are fighting back, it seems.  There are new developments with regard to the German bishop's plans to give Holy Communion to divorced and remarried.  In the latest salvo Church "officials" in Germany are saying that the Pope endorses their plan.  The Catholic Herald has the story.  One spokesman has said that they are acting "in the spirit of Pope Francis". (Yes, I know, I can hear your groaning: here we go again: "spirit of Vatican II" and now the "spirit of Pope Francis")  It seems these comments are based on the "officials'" reading of the Evangelii Gaudium.  

 

For the record the Holy Father has not endorsed the German bishops's plan: he has called a Synod and raised a question as to how we can minister to those who are in irregular relationships: a pastoral issue that does have to be addressed.  He said nothing about admitting those in such relationships to Holy Communion.  In his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium he does describe the Eucharist as not being a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak, and that is true.  But that does not mean the Pope is changing the Church's law on who can or cannot receive the Eucharist - that law is based on the moral law.  To change the Church's law on this issue is to change the moral law and the teaching of Christ and not even a pope can do that. 

 

As regards the Church not closing her doors on people: she shouldn't and nowadays she doesn't.  However we had better be very careful not to confuse people's decision to walk away from the Church or to defy Christ's teaching with the Church's closing her doors on them.  If Catholics choose a course of action that is contrary to the teaching of Christ or his Church that has consequences: consequences of a decision they made, not the Church. 

 

As every act has a consequence we have to be responsible and face up to these consequences, and if one of those consequences is a rupture with the Church or, if objectively gravely sinful, excludes full participation in the sacramental life of the Church, the Church cannot be blamed for what individuals have chosen to do themselves.  Critics of the Church say the Church should change her teachings so those who chose a path that is contrary to the Gospel and the moral law are not excluded.  Well such a demand is a demand for the Church to endorse the sinful actions and decisions of individuals and if she is to remain faithful to her Saviour, she cannot do that. 

 

Looking to Christ we see love and mercy, compassion to the point of sacrifice, but we never see the endorsement of sin or its justification.  Those often quoted words of the Lord "neither do I condemn you" are often left hanging without the important bit at the end: "go and sin no more".  Christ does not condemn the adulterous woman because he will die for her sins, but he demands conversion - she cannot go on as before, she has to change her life.  The Church, who must be obedient to Christ, cannot endorse or justify sin, not even for "pastoral reasons".  But she should seek to help people embrace the moral law in its fullness - that is the real meaning of pastoral work. 

 

Let us keep praying.  Let us pray for the Holy Father, and most especially for our brothers and sisters in difficult situations.

Tu Es Petrus! Standing With Francis

"Tu es Petrus": Pope Francis holds the relics of St Peter as he recites the Creed at Mass last Sunday.

 

It seems Pope Francis will soon be facing the first major crisis of his papacy: the effective schism of the Church in Germany.  As noted by commentators over the last few months, the German bishops threatened dissent from Church teaching on Communion for the divorced and remarried may well create a serious crisis in the Church universal.  Latest developments do not bode well for the Church: the Bishop of Stuttgart has indicated that the German hierarchy will go ahead with their plans even if in defiance of Rome, and ultimately in defiance of Church law and the teaching of Jesus Christ.  They have already explicitly rejected Archbishop Mueller of the CDF's warning, what will they do if the Holy Father himself has to come out and warn them explicitly? Rejecting the Pope's warning will be tantamount, I think, to an act of schism, and given that they seem to want to rewrite the Lord's commandment on adultery, they may also be in heresy.

 

The media, and perhaps even the German bishops themselves, will try and present this as an issue of compassion and inclusion.  It needs to be said that compassion must be shown to those in relationships that are contrary to Christ's law (and it is Christ's law we are talking about here) and they must be included, as far as possible, in the life of the Church commending them to the mercy of God and accompanying them on what may be a journey towards to the truth.  However, true compassion does not reject the truth, true compassion does not lead others into sin nor justifies or legitimises sin as St Paul says very clearly in his Hymn to Love in Corinthians.  Compassion has to lead to truth and virtuous living.

 

Some bloggers are reacting.  Fr Z reports the developments.  He suggests that there will be a big push for this change at the Synod next year.  It will certainly dominate discussions and we may well see, if we are allowed a peek, a right battle royal in the Synod Hall.   Fr Ray Blake offers some reflections on these developments seeing them as part of a larger dissent on the part of the Church in Germany over the last number of decades.  He is correct in pointing out that the Church in Germany is too wealthy, and the Church tax is not a good idea - it can enslave the Church to the State and public opinion if bishops and priests fear the loss of income should people stop paying the tax in protest at certain Church teachings.  It also reveals an unhealthy relationship between the Church and State: it may incline the local Church to Erastianism.

 

We shall see how things go.  Remember, we are not dealing with a man-made law here: it is derived from divine law.  The Pope cannot change that, he cannot say that what is sinful by God's decree, is now not sinful.  If the Pope cannot change the moral law, then the German bishops certainly can't.  If the bishops go ahead with their plan they will inflict a serious wound on the Church and the communion of the faithful; they will lead souls astray, lead them into error and perhaps even to damnation; they will also risk damnation themselves.  In this act, if they go ahead with it, these shepherds will be betraying the flock and the Chief Shepherd himself. 

 

Last Sunday the Holy Father held the relics of St Peter in his hands as he led the Church in the praying of the Creed, as Peter he may now have to assert his authority over an erring local church, and he needs the prayers and support of all the faithful throughout the Church.  The honeymoon may well be over for the Holy Father - no harm there.  As the faithful, we must stand with Peter.