It is not licit (non licet) to justify, approve, or legitimize either directly or indirectly divorce and a non-conjugal stable sexual relationship through the sacramental discipline of the admission of so-called "divorced and remarried" to Holy Communion, in this case a discipline alien to the entire Tradition of the Catholic and Apostolic faith.
************
Profession
of the immutable truths
about sacramental marriage
about sacramental marriage
After the publication of the Apostolic Exhortation
"Amoris laetitia" (2016) various bishops issued at local, regional,
and national levels applicable norms regarding the sacramental discipline of
those faithful, called "divorced and remarried," who having still a living
spouse to whom they are united with a valid sacramental matrimonial bond, have
nevertheless begun a stable cohabitation more
uxorio with a person who is not their legitimate spouse.
The aforementioned rules provide inter alia that in individual cases the persons, called
"divorced and remarried," may receive the sacrament of Penance and
Holy Communion, while continuing to live habitually and intentionally more uxorio with a person who is not
their legitimate spouse. These pastoral norms have received approval from
various hierarchical authorities. Some of these norms have received approval
even from the supreme authority of the Church.
The spread of these ecclesiastically approved pastoral
norms has caused a considerable and ever increasing confusion among the
faithful and the clergy, a confusion that touches the central manifestations of
the life of the Church, such as sacramental marriage with the family, the domestic
church, and the sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist.
According to the doctrine of the Church, only the
sacramental matrimonial bond constitutes a domestic church (see Second Vatican
Council, Lumen Gentium, 11). The
admission of so-called "divorced and remarried" faithful to Holy
Communion, which is the highest expression of the unity of Christ the Spouse
with His Church, means in practice a way of approving or legitimizing divorce,
and in this meaning a kind of introduction of divorce in the life of the Church.
The mentioned pastoral norms are revealed in practice and
in time as a means of spreading the "plague of divorce" (an
expression used by the Second Vatican Council, see Gaudium et spes, 47). It is a matter of spreading the "plague
of divorce" even in the life of the Church, when the Church, instead,
because of her unconditional fidelity to the doctrine of Christ, should be a
bulwark and an unmistakable sign of contradiction against the plague of divorce
which is every day more rampant in civil society.
Unequivocally and without admitting any exception Our
Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ solemnly reaffirmed God's will regarding the
absolute prohibition of divorce. An approval or legitimation of the violation
of the sacredness of the marriage bond, even indirectly through the mentioned
new sacramental discipline, seriously contradicts God's express will and His
commandment. This practice therefore represents a substantial alteration of the
two thousand-year-old sacramental discipline of the Church. Furthermore, a
substantially altered discipline will eventually lead to an alteration in the
corresponding doctrine.
The constant Magisterium of the Church, beginning with
the teachings of the Apostles and of all the Supreme Pontiffs, has preserved
and faithfully transmitted both in the doctrine (in theory) and in the
sacramental discipline (in practice) in an unequivocal way, without any shadow
of doubt and always in the same sense and in the same meaning (eodem sensu eademque sententia), the
crystalline teaching of Christ concerning the indissolubility of marriage.
Because of its Divinely established nature, the
discipline of the sacraments must never contradict the revealed word of God and
the faith of the Church in the absolute indissolubility of a ratified and
consummated marriage. "The sacraments not
only presuppose faith, but by words and objects they also nourish, strengthen,
and express it; that is why they are called "sacraments of faith." (Second Vatican
Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 59).
"Even the supreme authority in the Church may not change the liturgy arbitrarily,
but only in the obedience of faith and with religious respect for the mystery
of the liturgy" (Catechism of the
Catholic Church, 1125).
The Catholic faith by its nature excludes a formal
contradiction between the faith professed on the one hand and the life and
practice of the sacraments on the other. In this sense we can also understand
the following affirmation of the Magisterium: "This split between the faith which many profess and
their daily lives deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our
age."
(Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes,
43) and "Accordingly, the
concrete pedagogy of the Church must always remain linked with her doctrine and
never be separated from it" (John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, 33).
In view of the vital importance that the doctrine and
discipline of marriage and the Eucharist constitute, the Church is obliged to
speak with the same voice. The pastoral norms regarding the indissolubility of
marriage must not, therefore, be contradicted between one diocese and another,
between one country and another. Since the time of the Apostles, the Church has
observed this principle as St. Irenaeus of Lyons testifies: "The Church,
though spread throughout the world to the ends of the earth, having received the
faith from the Apostles and their disciples, preserves this preaching and this
faith with care and, as if she inhabits a single house, believes in the same
identical way, as if she had only one soul and only one heart, and preaches the
truth of the faith, teaches it and transmits it in a unanimous voice, as if she
had only one mouth"(Adversus haereses,
I, 10, 2). Saint Thomas Aquinas transmits to us the same perennial principle of
the life of the Church: "There is one and the same faith of the ancients
and the moderns, otherwise there would not be one and the same Church" (Questiones Disputatae de Veritate, q. 14,
a. 12c).
The following warning from Pope John Paul II remains
current and valid: "The confusion, created in the conscience of many
faithful by the differences of opinions and teachings in theology, in
preaching, in catechesis, in spiritual direction, about serious and delicate
questions of Christian morals, ends up by
diminishing the true sense of sin almost to the point of eliminating it" (Apostolic Exhortation Reconciliatio et Paenitenia, 18).
The meaning of the following statements of the
Magisterium of the Church is fully applicable to the doctrine and sacramental
discipline concerning the indissolubility of a ratified and consummated
marriage:
• "For the Church
of Christ, watchful guardian that she is, and defender of the dogmas deposited
with her, never changes anything, never diminishes anything, never adds
anything to them; but with all diligence she treats the ancient doctrines
faithfully and wisely, which the faith of the Fathers has transmitted. She
strives to investigate and explain them in such a way that the ancient dogmas
of heavenly doctrine will be made evident and clear, but will retain their
full, integral, and proper nature, and will grow only within their own genus —
that is, within the same dogma, in the same sense and the same meaning” (Pius
IX, Dogmatic Bull Ineffabilis Deus)
• "With regard to the very substance of truth, the Church has before God and men the sacred duty to announce it, to teach it without any attenuation, as Christ revealed it, and there is no condition of time that can reduce the rigor of this obligation. It binds in conscience every priest who is entrusted with the care of teaching, admonishing, and guiding the faithful "(Pius XII, Discourse to parish priests and Lenten preachers, March 23, 1949).
• "The Church does not historicize, does not
relativize to the metamorphoses of profane culture the nature of the Church
that is always equal and faithful to itself, as Christ wanted it and authentic
tradition perfected it" (Paul VI, Homily from October 28, 1965).
• "Now it
is an outstanding manifestation of charity toward souls to omit nothing from
the saving doctrine of Christ" (Paul VI, Encyclical Humanae Vitae, 29).
• "Any conjugal difficulties are resolved without
ever falsifying and compromising the truth" (John Paul II, Apostolic
Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, 33).
• "The Church
is in no way the author or the arbiter of this norm [of the Divine moral law].
In obedience to the truth which is Christ, whose image is reflected in the
nature and dignity of the human person, the Church interprets the moral norm
and proposes it to all people of good will, without concealing its demands of
radicalness and perfection" (John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, 33).
• “The other
principle is that of truth and consistency, whereby the church does not agree
to call good evil and evil good. Basing herself on these two complementary
principles, the church can only invite her children who find themselves in
these painful situations to approach the divine mercy by other ways, not
however through the sacraments of penance and the eucharist until such time as
they have attained the required dispositions” (John Paul II, Apostolic
Exhortation Reconciliatio et Paenitentia,
34).
• "The Church's
firmness in defending the universal and unchanging moral norms is not demeaning
at all. Its only purpose is to serve man's true freedom. Because there can be
no freedom apart from or in opposition to the truth"(John Paul II, Encyclical
Veritatis Splendor, 96).
• “When it is a matter of the moral norms prohibiting
intrinsic evil, there are no privileges or exceptions for anyone. It makes no difference whether one is the master of
the world or the "poorest of the poor" on the face of the earth.
Before the demands of morality we are all absolutely equal" (emphasis in original) (John
Paul II, Encyclical Veritatis Splendor, 96).
• "The obligation of
reiterating this impossibility of admission to the Eucharist is required for
genuine pastoral care and for an authentic concern for the well-being of these
faithful and of the whole Church, as it indicates the conditions necessary for
the fullness of that conversion to which all are always invited by the Lord“ (Pontifical
Council for Legislative Texts, Declaration on the admissibility to the Holy
Communion of the divorced and remarried, 24 June 2000, n. 5).
As Catholic bishops, who - according to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council - must defend the unity of faith and the common discipline of the Church, and take care that the light of the full truth should arise for all men (see Lumen Gentium, 23 ) we are forced in conscience to profess in the face of the current rampant confusion the unchanging truth and the equally immutable sacramental discipline regarding the indissolubility of marriage according to the bimillennial and unaltered teaching of the Magisterium of the Church. In this spirit we reiterate:
As Catholic bishops, who - according to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council - must defend the unity of faith and the common discipline of the Church, and take care that the light of the full truth should arise for all men (see Lumen Gentium, 23 ) we are forced in conscience to profess in the face of the current rampant confusion the unchanging truth and the equally immutable sacramental discipline regarding the indissolubility of marriage according to the bimillennial and unaltered teaching of the Magisterium of the Church. In this spirit we reiterate:
• Sexual relationships between people who are not in the
bond to one another of a valid marriage - which occurs in the case of the
so-called "divorced and remarried" - are always contrary to God's
will and constitute a grave offense against God.
• No circumstance or finality, not even a possible
imputability or diminished guilt, can make such sexual relations a positive moral
reality and pleasing to God. The same applies to the other negative precepts of
the Ten Commandments of God. Since “there
exist acts which, per se and in themselves, independently of circumstances, are
always seriously wrong by reason of their object" (John Paul II, Apostolic
Exhortation Reconciliatio et Paenitentia,
17).
• The Church does not possess the infallible charism of
judging the internal state of grace of a member of the faithful (see Council of
Trent, session 24, chapter 1). The non-admission to Holy Communion of the
so-called "divorced and remarried" does not therefore mean a judgment
on their state of grace before God, but a judgment on the visible, public, and
objective character of their situation. Because of the visible nature of the
sacraments and of the Church herself, the reception of the sacraments
necessarily depends on the corresponding visible and objective situation of the
faithful.
• It is not morally licit to engage in sexual relations
with a person who is not one’s legitimate spouse supposedly to avoid another
sin. Since the Word of God teaches us, it is not lawful "to do evil so
that good may come" (Romans 3, 8).
• The admission of such persons to Holy Communion may be
permitted only when they with the help of God's grace and a patient and
individual pastoral accompaniment make a sincere intention to cease from now on
the habit of such sexual relations and to avoid scandal. It is in this way that
true discernment and authentic pastoral accompaniment were always expressed in
the Church.
• People who have habitual non-marital sexual relations
violate their indissoluble sacramental nuptial bond with their life style in
relation to their legitimate spouse. For this reason they are not able to
participate "in Spirit and in Truth" (see John 4, 23) at the
Eucharistic wedding supper of Christ, also taking into account the words of the
rite of Holy Communion: "Blessed are the guests at the wedding supper of
the Lamb!" (Revelation 19, 9).
• The fulfillment of God's will, revealed in His Ten
Commandments and in His explicit and absolute prohibition of divorce,
constitutes the true spiritual good of the people here on earth and will lead
them to the true joy of love in the salvation of eternal life.
Being bishops in the pastoral office those, who promote the Catholic and Apostolic faith ("cultores catholicae et apostolicae fidei", see Missale Romanum, Canon Romanus), we are aware of this grave responsibility and our duty before the faithful who await from us a public and unequivocal profession of the truth and the immutable discipline of the Church regarding the indissolubility of marriage. For this reason we are not allowed to be silent.
We affirm therefore in the spirit of St. John the
Baptist, of St. John Fisher, of St. Thomas More, of Blessed Laura Vicuña and of
numerous known and unknown confessors and martyrs of the indissolubility of
marriage:
It
is not licit (non licet) to justify,
approve, or legitimize either directly or indirectly divorce and a non-conjugal
stable sexual relationship through the sacramental discipline of the admission
of so-called "divorced and remarried" to Holy Communion, in this case
a discipline alien to the entire Tradition of the Catholic and Apostolic faith.
By making this public profession before our conscience
and before God who will judge us, we are sincerely convinced that we have
provided a service of charity in truth to the Church of our day and to the
Supreme Pontiff, Successor of Saint Peter and Vicar of Christ on earth .
31 December 2017, the Feast of the Holy Family, in the
year of the centenary of the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima.
+
Tomash Peta, Archbishop Metropolitan of the Archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana
+
Jan Pawel Lenga, Archbishop-Bishop of Karaganda
+
Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Mary in
Astana
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