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Updated Briefing - Marriage & the family today: new Vatican questionnaire


Eileen Fitzpatrick and John Wilkins, from A Call to Action (ACTA) have written the following briefing paper, examining the (lineamenta and questionnaire issued by the Vatican ahead of October's ordinary synod. 

So Pope Francis has done it again. The questionnaire circulated by the Vatican to all bishops’ conferences in 2013 in advance of the extraordinary synod on marriage and the family in October 2014 was unprecedented. The Pope wanted the bishops to consult their people so as to know what the whole Church thought. Now the Vatican has published outlines (lineamenta, in Latin) with another questionnaire attached, looking ahead to the linked ordinary synod due in October this year on the same subject. (An ordinary synod has a wider representation of the episcopate than an extraordinary one.) The outlines build closely on the report (relatio) of the conclusions of the first synod.

Some people have expressed dismay at “the volume and impenetrability” of the material, but nothing like this would have been conceivable before the advent of Pope Francis. The Vatican authors would appear to have learnt something from the criticism of their previous effort. The lineamenta text is tighter and a touch less clerical. As before, however, whatever the justified misgivings, this is a chance to respond which must not be allowed to go begging. Everyone is encouraged to respond. That very much includes Catholics who have ceased to practise or who have lapsed altogether: the Pope wants to know why.

As a way in, the ACTA leadership team is offering, below, a briefing paper making some basic comments on the text of the lineamenta and picking out topics which are talking points particularly needing discussion.

The lineamenta and relatio are both obtainable from the Vatican website. The lineamenta are entitled “The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and Contemporary World” (see Attachment A). The relatio is entitled “The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelisation”.

The numbers in the briefing paper below correspond to the paragraph numbers in the lineamenta.

Preface

Right at the start, the lineamenta request the episcopal conferences to involve “lay movements” in addition to other institutions and associations within the local Churches.

Introduction

The text is realistic about the extent of the challenge. The family is clearly presented as the scene of trials as well as joy, wounded relationships as well as love. But the lineamenta text stresses that “the desire to marry and form a family remains vibrant”.

After this introduction, the text of the lineamenta follows closely the relatio in dividing its overview into three parts. The questions follow at the end.

Part I. “Listening: the context and the challenges of the family”

Note that the authors of the lineamenta feel able to discern and give credit to positive aspects in the changes to family life. They see “a greater freedom of expression” and in some parts of the world “a better recognition of the rights of women”.
The document picks out “individualism” as a particular threat to the unity of families. Meanwhile, it says, there is “the crisis of faith among a great many Catholics” which often “underlies the crisis in marriage and the family”.

Part II. “Looking at Christ: the Gospel of the Family”

Para 12 speaks of “natural marriage” which it traces to “the origins”. This expression will recur. The reference is to the Genesis story of Adam and Eve.

This is useful in showing that the Church does not own marriage. A marriage is made by the couple, and they are the ministers of it. The sacrament’s outward and visible sign is the love of the couple for each other, the inward and spiritual grace is their response to the love of God. The Church’s function is to witness and bless the marriage. The Church also makes the canon law surrounding it. There is sometimes a temptation for canon lawyers to think that they control marriages as well as the law. They do not.

Para 17 draws attention to Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae ruling out contraception. The encyclical is commended as setting out “the intimate bond” between married love and the generation of children. HV will recur (see comment on 56 below)

Para 24 ff introduce those who have made a civil marriage, have divorced and remarried, or are cohabiting. “The grace of God works also in their lives”, it says.

Part III. “Confronting the Situation: Pastoral Perspectives”

In this part the lineamenta stress the Gospel of the Family as “urgently needed in the work of evangelisation”.

36 notes that the bishops at the first synod last October wanted “a thorough renewal of the Church’s pastoral practice”. This includes “replacing its current emphasis on individuals”. It means renewal in “the training of priests, deacons, catechists and other pastoral workers”, and more involvement of families.

39 urges “accompanying married couples in the initial years of marriage”. Here the Catholic psychiatrist Jack Dominian was a pioneer over many years. As a consultant at the Catholic Marriage Advisory Council, he was struck by the fact that many of his clients had followed Catholic teaching to the letter, yet their marriages were in crisis. This caused him to focus not on therapy for breakdown, but on prevention of it. He defined the values to be aimed for in a permanent relationship as mutual sustaining, healing and growth, with sexual intercourse as the prayer between the couple (as to the latter, see the witness to the first synod of Romano and Mavis Pirola).

Dominian emphasised again and again that the modern understanding of marriage had radically changed. Where previously it was seen as a contract with corresponding duties for each spouse, now it was seen as an intimate partnership of “life and love” (see lineamenta 16, which quotes precisely this phrase from Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 48).

In 40 the text commends pastoral sensitivity to “the positive aspects of civilly celebrated marriages and, with obvious differences, cohabitation”. Note again the willingness to accept there is a positive side. A “constructive response”, they say (42), “may encourage couples to proceed to the fullness of marriage and the family”. Have respondents witnessed a progression of this kind? How far do considerations of expense deter couples from weddings?

In 43ff the scope widens to cover single-parent families, couples who are separated, and couples who are divorced and may or may not be remarried. There could be diocesan “listening centres”, it suggests, where mediation could take place (46).
47 considers how to speed up the nullity procedures. It does not weigh the fact that many of the faithful no longer bother with these (see Attachment B).

51-52 deals with the key issue of admission to Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics. This is key because if established pastoral practice can be changed here, it can be changed elsewhere (see Attachment C). The lineamenta set out the options with scrupulous fairness.

54-55 consider “pastoral attention towards persons with homosexual tendencies”. The text nowhere speaks of “homosexuals” as such. Here it does not depart one iota from Catholic teaching presently in force which is so problematic. The attempt to do so by Archbishop Bruno Forte and others at the previous synod who wanted the synod to express welcome, estimation and respect for homosexuals has so far failed.

55 condemns governments for linking aid to the introduction of same-sex marriage laws. Some see the influence of African bishops here. But in fact no such link is made by any government. Rather, what is linked is observation of human rights in general.

56ff point to the decline of the birth rate which, the lineamenta say, “weakens the social fabric” and introduces uncertainty about the future. This is a hook for the document to return to Humanae Vitae, calling for “appropriate teaching regarding the natural methods of procreation”. But it does not seek to foreclose the debate on the clause in HV which has caused all the trouble, that “each and every marriage act must remain open to the transmission of life”. As everyone knows, there has been a massive refusal of reception of this obligation on the part of the laity. Most people regard all this as past history (see the report of the German bishops, Attachment B). But this is not the view of the magisterium (teaching authority).
The lineamenta do not refer to the recent document from the International Theological Commission on the sensus fidelium, or sense of faith of the people. Towards the end of that document there is a passage that is obviously a propos:There are occasions. . . when the reception of magisterial teaching by the faithful meets with difficulty and resistance, and appropriate action on both sides is required in such situations. The faithful must reflect on the teaching that has been given, making every effort to understand and accept it. . . . The magisterium must likewise reflect on the teaching that has been given and consider whether it needs clarification or reformulation in order to communicate more effectively the essential message.
That's basically what Cardinal Martini was calling for, and also Cardinal Hume in his "dream" speech at the 1980 synod of bishops on the family. But there is no sign that this is yet going to be applied to HV.

46 questions

Each of the three parts contains questions, consecutively numbered. A note before they begin says that the responses to them should help the bishops avoid “a formulation of pastoral care based simply on an application of doctrine”. One might draw particular attention to 13, on the family as the “domestic church”, a concept dear to Jack Dominian; to 19, asking about “natural marriage”, to 30, on accompanying couples in the first stages of their marriage; to 40, on homosexuals; and to 41-44 on maternity and paternity, Humanae Vitae, and abortion.

Some further reflections

From the relatio and the lineamenta, a powerful and sometimes beautiful advocacy of marriage and the family emerges. In the world of today, we very badly need this. But at the same time, there is a remarkably full recognition of the huge changes across the board experienced by families as the basic cells of society. There is no condescension in the presentation and no talking down. On the contrary, the clear assumption is that while Catholic doctrine must stand like a torch or lighthouse (27), nevertheless the teaching Church must be also a learning Church.

A question which is not on the Vatican list: to what extent do parents find that the younger generations’ obsessive resort to computer games, including those on held-held devices, is damaging relationships and discourse between the generations within the family? If considerably, what can be done about it?

Our bishops’ questions for the local Church

In the light of the above, the six questions put to the laity by the bishops of England and Wales (see Attachment D) do not seem fully to measure up to the task of discernment and evaluation which Pope Francis has set before the whole Church. Certainly society highly values couples with families living successfully in a stable relationship (see Attachment B). But the English and Welsh bishops’ questions confine themselves almost entirely to such unions. Many married Catholic couples with families may feel strong reservations at the exhortation to present their marriages as the ushering in of the kingdom of Heaven.

Compare the questions put by the Australian bishops to their people. The questions include: “How can couples living together before marriage or in de facto relationships be encouraged to choose marriage?” “How can the family be helped to become ‘the domestic Church’ with a missionary vocation?” “How can we help develop a family spirituality?” “Do we need to shape a new language in the area of marriage and the family? If so, how?” “Apart from sacramental marriage, what can be done to foster appreciation of ‘natural marriage’?” “How can we respond compassionately to people in irregular unions while remaining faithful to the teaching of Christ and the Church?” “How can we respond better to people of same-sex attraction and their families?” “What more can we do to prevent abortion and foster a genuine culture of life?”

That is the sort of open non-prescriptive questioning that arises when bishops really want to make in-depth soundings among lay people. This is what Pope Francis clearly wants. In Brazil, he led the bishops through an examination of conscience, which included the question: Do we give the laity “the freedom to continue discerning, in a way befitting their growth as disciples, the mission which the Lord has entrusted to them? Do we support them and accompany them, overcoming the temptation to manipulate them or infantilize them?”

By contrast, the English and Welsh episcopate’s questions to the clergy (see Attachment E) are more grounded.

Eileen Fitzpatrick, ACTA chair
John Wilkins, ACTA media

Read the Lineamenta and attachments below:

(A) www.vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20141209_lineamenta-xiv-assembly_en.html# 

 (B) www.dbk.de/fileadmin/redaktion/diverse_downloads/presse_2014/2014-012b-ENG-Fragebogen-Die-patoralen-Herausforderungen-der-Familie.pdf

(C)  Remarried divorcees a test case for the Church

By Christa Pongratz-Lippitt

German bishops’ new guidelines
 
A large majority of German bishops favour Cardinal Walter Kasper’s solution for remarried divorcees which would allow them to receive the sacraments under certain circumstances. Only a small minority think that present church teaching is theologically correct and pastorally appropriate. Most are convinced that the pastoral approach to remarried divorcees is the test case for the Church’s credibility.

Accordingly, the German Bishops’ Conference has now published the findings of a working group set up by the conference which has been researching the subject for two years They present these findings for use as guidelines in the ongoing preparatory discussions for the coming Synod of Bishops next October.

“The search for a theologically responsible and pastorally appropriate accompaniment for Catholics whose marriages have broken down and who have married again in a registry office is a pressing challenge for the Church worldwide, as divorce and remarriage are often the beginning of a process of alienation from the Church”, the president of the German Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, said when he presented the new guidelines on 22 December.

The majority of German bishops find that the present guidelines regarding pastoral work with remarried divorcees are “fraught with problems that bishops and priests find almost impossible to overcome”.

Not only remarried divorcees but also many happily married Catholic couples view the present pastoral rulings for remarried divorcees as “incomprehensible and unmerciful”, particularly their exclusion from the sacraments of Reconciliation and Communion, and even many priests find the present rulings “anything but helpful”, the bishops say.

“For many practising, committed Catholics in Germany, the pastoral approach to remarried divorcees is the test case for an evangelising Church which is not only for special groups of faithful but which also welcomes those whose life projects have failed. It has become the touchstone of whether the Joy of the Gospel also holds good for remarried divorcees and their families”, the bishops state.

Only very few remarried divorcees see annulment as a solution as they do not think that their first marriage simply never existed. The possibility of an annulment is therefore “only practicable for a small minority. It does not solve the problem”, the bishops say.

“The assurance that remarried divorcees continue to be part of the Church community stands in strong contrast to the ban on them ever receiving the sacraments, which is seen as an exclusion and a sign that their situation is irreconcilable. Tension reaches a climax when remarried divorcees are invited to celebrate the Eucharist “purely spiritually”. Such an invitation is seen by practising Catholics who take an active part in parish life as an “imposition.” The Eucharist is not a reward for the perfect but a magnanimous remedy and nourishment for the weak, the bishops say.

Many priests are at a loss as they cannot see – or show those in their care – a way out of such situations which would be accepted by them in good conscience and at the same time conform to present church teaching. A not inconsiderable number of priests therefore ignore church instructions and that in turn leads to tensions in the Church between priests and bishops but also among priests themselves.

The obvious gulf between the Church’s proclamation and the religious and moral convictions of a great majority of the faithful is seen by a large majority of Catholics as “exceedingly problematic”, the bishops state.

“When the present pastoral approach to remarried divorcees is perceived as a scandal by committed, practising Catholics who are involved in their parishes, one must seriously ask whether scripture and tradition really reveal no other way.”

In the present situation, the bishops say, the concern expressed by Pope John Paul II in his 1981 apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio (Nr 84) has gone into reverse. Pope John Paul feared that “allowing remarried divorcees to receive communion would confuse the faithful regarding the Church’s teaching on the indissolubility of marriage”. But now, “not allowing remarried divorcees to receive communion is seen as obscuring the proclamation of mercy”, the bishops underline.

Many committed Catholics want to know whether “all theological implications and consequences” have really been adequately considered as far as the possibility of remarried divorcees receiving the sacraments is concerned. The German bishops do not want to leave this question unanswered. From their point of view, however, it would not be right to allow all the faithful whose marriages have broken down and who have remarried to receive the sacraments without distinction. Based on their pastoral experiences and theological reflections, most German bishops favour differentiated solutions which would do justice to individual cases and make it possible to receive the sacraments under certain circumstances.

“Most bishops espouse Cardinal Walter Kasper’s question which he posed at the consistory of 21 February 2014:

‘But if a divorced and remarried person is truly sorry that he or she failed in the first marriage, if the commitments from the first marriage are clarified and a return is definitively out of the question, if he or she cannot undo the commitments that were assumed in the second civil marriage without new guilt, if he or she strives to the best of his or her abilities to live out the second civil marriage on the basis of faith and to raise their children in the faith, if he or she longs for the sacraments as a source of strength in his or her situation, do we then have to refuse or can we refuse him or her the sacrament of Penance and Communion, after a period of reorientation?’”

(D) Questions for Laity www.cbcew.org.uk/CBCEW-Home/About-Us/Documents-and-Publications/The-Call-the-Journey-and-the-Mission-2014/(language)/eng-GB

(E) Reflection document for the Clergy www.rcdhn.org.uk/family/2015/clergy-reflect-marriage-fam.pdf

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