No Major Changes Expected on Communion, Politicians

c. 2005 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY _ A synod of bishops advising Pope Benedict XVI is not expected to recommend any concrete changes on priestly celibacy or how the church treats divorced Catholics or Catholic politicians, according to a draft of the bishops’ final report. Bishops on Tuesday (Oct. 18) reviewed a first draft […]

c. 2005 Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY _ A synod of bishops advising Pope Benedict XVI is not expected to recommend any concrete changes on priestly celibacy or how the church treats divorced Catholics or Catholic politicians, according to a draft of the bishops’ final report.

Bishops on Tuesday (Oct. 18) reviewed a first draft of proposals that will be put to a vote Saturday and presented to the pope in a final message. Portions of the draft were made available to Religion News Service by sources participating in the synod.


According to priests who briefed reporters on synod proceedings, bishops have so far narrowed the proposals to 50 out of 298 submitted.

“Ultimately, the majority view will be presented” to the pope, Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana told reporters on Tuesday. But, he added that “a consensus is not easy to fashion” in a synod of more than 250 bishops representing a “diversity of backgrounds.”

Although the push to confront Catholic politicians who stray from church teaching on moral issues like abortion has not resonated on the synod floor, the issue is substantially addressed in the draft.

The draft states that “Catholics who are politicians or legislators ought to feel challenged in conscience” for supporting “iniquitous laws.” It also condemns any attempt to “separate one’s public stance and private stance creating contrast with the law of God and teaching of the Church.”

That formula comes in response to positions taken by politicians such as 2004 presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who said he personally opposes abortion but supports abortion rights as a lawmaker.

However, the proposal stops short of endorsing actions like those taken by Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis, who led a vocal minority of U.S. bishops to threaten to deny Kerry Communion during the 2004 campaign.

“Bishops ought to exercise the virtue of prudence, taking into account concrete local situations,” the proposal states.


Meanwhile, bishops appear to have reached a consensus on the need to address Catholicism’s global priest shortage, although solutions to the problem remain elusive.

The draft rejects the ordination of “viri probati,” or “proven” married men whose family life exemplifies church teaching, as a means of stemming the shortage.

Turkson said some bishops called for better distribution of priests worldwide but described these proposals as “short-term” solutions hindered by language and cultural gaps.

The draft also rejects making any fundamental changes to the status of divorced and remarried Catholics, stating that “such people cannot be admitted to Holy Communion” because they represent an “objective contrast to the Word of God.”

The Communion ban should also continue for non-Catholics, but could be eased in “particular situations” when Christians from other denominations do not have access to their own priests.

Turkson said he would like to see wider use of “dispensations,” or special canonical exemptions, that could provide Communion to members of interfaith and polygamous marriages, a common phenomenon in Africa.


“If we say that the Eucharist is the center and summit (of church life), we need to do whatever is possible so that spouses have access to Communion,” he said.

KRE/JM END MEICHTRY

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