What happened?
Several senior churchmen in North America and Africa weighed in on a dispute among German bishops about Communion for Protestants. A majority of Germany’s bishops support proposed guidelines allowing Protestant spouses of Catholics to receive Holy Communion under certain conditions – most notably, that they “affirm the Catholic faith in the Eucharist”. Critics in the German episcopacy appealed to the Vatican, which asked the bishops to reach a consensus.
What Church leaders are saying
Until last week the public dispute between Church leaders had been confined to Europe. The most dramatic intervention came from Dutch Cardinal Willem Eijk, who called the Vatican’s response “incomprehensible”. But now the controversy has crossed the Atlantic. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, writing in First Things, pointed to the “global prominence” of the debate and its “doctrinal substance”. Citing Martin Luther, he said: “What happens in Germany will not stay in Germany. History has already taught us that lesson once.”
The essence of the German proposal, he said, was that there would be a “sharing in Holy Communion even when there is not true Church unity”, thus inserting a “falsehood” into the encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist. The proposal would “redefine who and what the Church is”, as Communion is the “sign and instrument of ecclesial unity”, and would serve to Protestantise Catholic identity by reducing it to “simple baptism and a belief in Christ”. On the same day Canada’s Catholic Register published comments by Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa, who said such “open Communion” envisaged by the Germans was “against Church teaching”.
Former Vatican liturgical chief Cardinal Francis Arinze added a Nigerian voice to the debate. During a visit to Buckfast Abbey he told a reporter that you could not share Communion as you might beer or cake. “After Mass, you can go to the refectory and have a cup of tea and even a glass of beer and a bit of cake. That’s OK … [but] the Holy Eucharist is not our private possession.”
✣Pope advises bishops on gay seminary applicants
What happened?
During a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops, Pope Francis called for caution in accepting gay men as candidates to the priesthood, according to a report in La Stampa. Speaking of people with “deep-seated tendencies” or who practise “homosexual acts”, he said: “If you have even the slightest doubt, it’s better not to let them enter.”
Why was it under-reported
The story does not fit the narrative of Pope Francis as reformer. A few days earlier news outlets around the world had reported the Pope’s alleged remarks to an abuse survivor: “That you are gay does not matter. God made you like this and loves you like this.”
They were hailed by the Guardian, for instance, as “arguably the most strikingly accepting comments about homosexuality” uttered by a pope. In contrast, none of the major English media covered his comments to bishops. If it had been Benedict XVI, there would have been an outcry.
What will happen next?
The Pope’s position appears to reflect a 2005 Vatican instruction that seminaries should reject “those who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture’.” Francis has shown no sign he disagrees with Church teaching, yet his efforts to reach out to gay people are often misinterpreted as a fundamental change of approach (thanks to his freewheeling lack of precision, critics say). This approach may be unsettling, but affects only the mood music, not the Church’s core belief.
✣The week ahead
Pilgrims will gather in Dunfermline on Sunday for the annual St Margaret’s National Pilgrimage. The saint’s relics will process through the town ahead of a 3pm Mass at St Margaret’s Church. Known as the “pearl of Scotland”, St Margaret was Queen of Scots from 1070 to 1093. The pilgrimage first began in the 13th century and was revived in 2015.
ITN newsreader Julie Etchingham will interview Nick Clegg at a fundraising event for the London Oratory School on Wednesday. The conversation, which takes place at the school, is titled “Life, Politics and the World Today”.
Archbishop emeritus Kevin McDonald will lead a Corpus Christi procession along the coast at Ramsgate, Kent, on Sunday. The procession concludes St Augustine’s Week, organised by the shrine and National Pugin Centre. St Augustine landed at Ramsgate in 597 AD. It is where Augustus Pugin lived, worked and built a church dedicated to the saint.
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