(Freiburg im Breisgau) Walter Cardinal Kasper, spokesman of the "new Mercy" is striving to keep his followers on course, because there is considerable internal Church opposition to its "opening course". Once again the Jesuits prove to be his accomplices. His new 'plea for individual solutions', the cardinal is spreading with in the Jesuit magazine "Voices of Time" throughout the world. The title of his essay is: "Admission of Remarried Divorcees to the Sacraments? A Thorny and Complex Issue ".
He had written the new text, says Kasper, to clarify "numerous misunderstandings" which arose after his presentation before the Cardinal Consistory in February 2014. At that time Pope Francis had given him a monopoly in order to promote the admission "of remarried divorcees", and those cohabiting in adulterous unions against Church teaching, to Communion.
If the arsonists shouts "fire"
Since then, the whole Church has been shocked by this fire, that Kasper has set with the approval of the Pope. While some will try to extinguish it, others like Kasper blow, in order to arouse it even more. Kasper writes in modesty: "It was to be expected therefore that the issue has been newly flared up before and during the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops in 2014". A rather daring, if not cynical remark from the mouth of the arsonist.
The German cardinal stressed in his plea in the "Voices of Time" for the "individual solution". At the same time makes the claim to represent a "realistic theology of marriage", which he shall recommend to the whole Church. Such must take into account failure as well as forgiveness.
After a time of penance those affected should be granted admission to Communion under clear conditions. As conditions Kasper calls for "an honest judgment of the person concerned about his personal situation" and a positive opinion of the minister. The respective local bishop should have the overall supervision of these penitential period.
Kaspers Solution as "Higher Justice"?
Kasper emphasized that he demanded no derogations from canon law, but "a reasonable and compassionate application of the law". The Cardinal speaks in this context of his proposal even of a "higher justice" which it attains to in the application. In other words, he attests that the current practice is neither "mercy" nor "reasonable", although the right would permit such. Blame for the non-admission of remarried divorcees to communion thusly was the hard-heartedness of the Church, according to the former President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity .
Audacity can certainly not be denied of the German Cardinal as he writes, despite the "pleading" in the same breath: "It is essential in word of Jesus, that man must not separate what God has joined. It is found in all three Synoptic Gospels (Mt 5,32; 19,9; Mk 10.9; Luke 16:18).There is also the testimony of the Apostle Paul (1 Cor 7,10 f.) [...] Now just as ever we must now disarm the words of Jesus by adapting to the situation."
Master of Dialectics
But as a master of dialectics Kasper knows a way out, because the word of Jesus should be "Not be read as fundamentalist". In one sentence the cardinal dismantled and refashioned the as authentic mission of Jesus and accused his opponents, the defenders of the marriage sacrament, of fundamentalism, some of the worst vocabulary that is used by political correctness as an instrument of homicide.
The same thought experiment is revisited by the cardinal, when he praises the Catholic understanding of covenant: "As God's covenant in Jesus Christ is final and inextricably linked to the church, the marriage covenant is as a real symbol of this covenant." However, the next sentence is reworked beyond recognition into perspective by saying, "That's a great and compelling design. However, they must not lead an idealization that his hostile to life. "
"Flexible pastoral practice of some local Churches of the early church"
Each case should be checked with "understanding, discretion and tact". A "general solution to the problem" can not exist, but only "individual solutions". Kasper justified this by claiming that the Church could even "really not speak of an objective situation of sin, without considering the situation of the sinner, each in their each unique personal dignity" for remarried divorcees. The cardinal then breezily asserts the alleged "flexible pastoral practice of some local churches of the early church." On this point, he has become more modest in comparison to the initial allegations, but without correcting its premise.
Thus the cardinal tried to allay widespread fears of a fundamental change in practice which would inevitably entail a change of doctrine in itself. But what is new behind Kasper's modesty with its emphasis on "individual solutions" is hidden in the final analysis, and despite the many words about "conditions", "narrow conditions", "votum of the confessor" and "supervision of the local bishop." After all, whoever knows the practice in the parishes, knows how unrealistic Kaspers "realistic theology of marriage" is. So unrealistic that within a short time, at least in our latitudes, a general laissez-faire practice would prevail among the clergy, in turn, which would inevitably have a negative influence on the doctrine of the Faith.
Kasper's Unrealistic "Realistic Theology of Marriage"
How many priests want to be confronted with remarried divorcees and otherwise irregular cohabitants to put it bluntly, be the "party pooper" and be saddled with preprogrammed conflicts in the parish. Not even to speak of the "oversight" by the local bishops. They would bureaucratize their "supervision" in no time at all by allocating to any office of their Ordinariate, which is the opposite of pastoral care.
Perhaps we should recommend Cardinal Kasper takes a "realistic theology of sin" instead of a "realistic theology of marriage" which is actually lacking in our dioceses and parishes.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Wikicommons / voices of the time (screenshot)
Image: Wikicommons / voices of the time (screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
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AMDG