Yes, John, I understand that. The point I'm making is that as far as the pope is concerned, priests and bishops may make individual exceptions on a case-by-case basis. The Philadelphia archbishop can't overrule the pope on that point. All he can do is say, I'm not going to allow any exceptions in my archdiocese. He doesn't make the rules except for the Philadelphia archdiocese.
---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <jr_esq@...> wrote : Judy, The archbishop is merely reiterating the Church position for centuries regarding marriage and annulment. I don't see how any other archbishop can have any other interpretation. That's one of the reasons why Pope Francis will have problems in administrating the church the longer he stays in that position. There are others issues that are equally valid which he has to address, such as pedophiles among priests, gays in the priesthood, the LGBT group staying in the church, and the eligibility of women to become priests. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <authfriend@...> wrote : (chuckle) I see you didn't read the article. I know what the church says about marriage, John. Nevertheless, the archbishop of Philadelphia has jurisdiction only over Catholics in the Philadelphia archdiocese. From the article: "Francis didn't create a church wide admission to Communion for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics as some progressives had wanted. But in the April document, he suggested bishops and priests could do so on a case-by-case basis in what could become a significant development in church practice." It remains to be seen how many bishops and priests, if any, will take the pope up on this option in individual cases. The archbishop of Philadelphia won't allow it in his archdiocese, but he's not prohibiting it church-wide; he can't: "That's not the way the Catholic Church works." ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <jr_esq@...> wrote : Judy, That's not the way the Catholic Church works. The church teaches the indissolubility of marriage. Once marriage is entered validly and blessed by the church, the marriage cannot be broken. Therefore, divorce and remarriage are not recognized. The only way a marriage can be dissolved is by proving that there never was a valid contract in the first place. That's where the canon law enters the picture. Either of the party has to prove to the church adjudicator that he or she was coerced into the marriage, or that the other party lied or did not disclose the truth before the marriage, such as none of the parties was married before to another person in a valid catholic marriage. But Pope Francis appears to be dancing around this subject in trying to make the church appear more accepting of those who are divorced. The conservatives in the church will fight tooth and nails with the Pope on this issue even to the point of a schism. But IMO, the Pope is testing out the waters of public opinion to see how the church members feel about the marriage rules in the current living conditions in the world. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <authfriend@...> wrote : Or move to another diocese. This is just for the Philadelphia archdiocese, John. Did you read the article? ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <jr_esq@...> wrote : Easier said than done. If this is the case, a lot of Catholics will leave the church. Philadelphia archbishop: Divorced Catholics must avoid sex https://www.yahoo.com/news/philadelphia-archbishop-divorced-catholics-must-avoid-sex-144533896.html https://www.yahoo.com/news/philadelphia-archbishop-divorced-catholics-must-avoid-sex-144533896.html Philadelphia archbishop: Divorced Catholics must avo... https://www.yahoo.com/news/philadelphia-archbishop-divorced-catholics-must-avoid-sex-144533896.html PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Philadelphia is closing the door opened by Pope Francis to letting civilly remarried Catholics rec... View on www.yahoo.com https://www.yahoo.com/news/philadelphia-archbishop-divorced-catholics-must-avoid-sex-144533896.html Preview by Yahoo
