Friday, November 18, 2016

Pope Francis digs in his heels

Pope Francis today issued a rebuke implicitly against the four Cardinals who simply wanted clarification on his recent statements about divorced and remarried Catholics and their admission to receive Holy Communion.
The pope simply dismissed their comments and questions as a form of legalism and said that he is more interested in spreading God's love or something along those lines.

This is a very serious and concerning development for serious Catholics. St Thomas Aquinas spent his entire life explaining and defending the faith in the most minor detail and he was the source and continues to be the source of theological interpretation for the Catholic Church even to this day. It has always been held that interpretation of church rules and laws is extremely important and that sometimes you must delve deep into specific legislation.

Seeking clarification does not in itself constitute legalism. The problem with this entire issue is that the pope seems to be saying that divorced married couples or unmarried couples who are cohabiting against Church law can still receive Holy Communion despite the fact that they are living in a Gravely sinful situation. The Cardinals who wrote a letter to the pope simply want to know if the church has changed its teachings on this issue and whether or not it considers illicit sexual unions to be sinful anymore. If not is the church now removing the requirement that people be in the State of Grace in order to receive Holy Communion at Mass.

This is definitely not a trivial matter and the pope should definitely not be trivializing it.

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