Holy Communion for Polygamists?

Pope Francis' excellent job of causing a "mess" in the Church continues with chaos in the African communities where polygamy is a troublesome issue in the culture. 

Cardinal Napier, Archbishop of Durban, South Africa recently tweeted: 

Before Pope Francis this was not a question. With Francis as pope everything seems to be questionable - because of course, who are we to judge?

Before Pope Francis we had: 

CONCERNING THE RECEPTION OF HOLY COMMUNION BY DIVORCED AND REMARRIED MEMBERS OF THE FAITHFULVatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

[quote in part] "In some places it has also been proposed that in order objectively to examine their actual situation, the divorced and remarried would have to consult a prudent and expert priest. This priest, however, would have to respect their eventual decision in conscience to approach holy communion, without this implying an official authorization.
In these and similar cases it would be a matter of a tolerant and benevolent pastoral solution in order to do justice to the different situations of the divorced and remarried.
Even if analogous pastoral solutions have been proposed by a few fathers of the church and in some measure were practiced nevertheless these never attained the consensus of the fathers and in no way came to constitute the common doctrine of the church nor to determine her discipline. It falls to the universal magisterium, in fidelity to sacred Scripture and tradition, to teach and to interpret authentically the <depositum fidei>.
With respect to the aforementioned new pastoral proposals, this congregation deems itself obliged therefore to recall the doctrine and discipline of the church in this matter. In fidelity to the words of Jesus Christ, the church affirms that a new union cannot be recognized as valid if the preceding marriage was valid. If the divorced are remarried civilly, they find themselves in a situation that objectively contravenes God's law. Consequently, they cannot receive holy communion as long as this situation persists.
This norm is not at all a punishment or a discrimination against the divorced and remarried, but rather expresses an objective situation that of itself renders impossible the reception of holy communion.[end quote]

Jesus and our Church have always been very clear on this subject. 

Catholic Catechism: 

1665 The remarriage of persons divorced from a living, lawful spouse contravenes the plan and law of God as taught by Christ. They are not separated from the Church, but they cannot receive Eucharistic communion. They will lead Christian lives especially by educating their children in the faith.

With Francis as pope, suddenly it is a question because chaos and confusion is the new normal in our Church. 

Quote from CatholicCitizens.org: 

"For the African Church, this is a pressing issue. For example, in 2004 it was reported that nearly half of marriages in Senegal are polygamous. I know from my own former ministry in Kenya that polygamy is not at all unknown among Catholics. People in that sort of situation might well think that the admission of those in irregular second unions throws them some sort of lifeline.
Four Cardinals, as we know, have submitted five dubia to the Pope on the matter of the correct interpretation of Amoris Laetitia. Virtually every priest who has ever worked in Africa could submit a dubium on this matter too, namely, to quote Cardinal Napier: “If Westerners in irregular [marital] situations can receive Communion, are we to tell our polygamists and other ‘misfits’ that they too are allowed?”
If polygamists were ever admitted to Holy Communion for whatever reason, it would undo a century of work by the missionaries who have consistently taught that marriage is an exclusive and lifelong union between one man and one woman, and can only be dissolved by death. It would also severely damage the credibility of the Church, and undermine the authority of Scripture. Dubium means doubt, but on this matter there can be no doubt. We cannot admit polygamists to Holy Communion, whether serial ones of concurrent ones, whether Westerners or from other continents." [end quote] 

Who knew back in 2013 when the Holy Father said...

"I want to tell you something. What is it that I expect as a consequence of World Youth Day? I want a mess. We knew that in Rio there would be great disorder, but I want trouble in the dioceses!" he said, speaking off the cuff in his native Spanish. "I want to see the church get closer to the people. I want to get rid of clericalism, the mundane, this closing ourselves off within ourselves, in our parishes, schools or structures. Because these need to get out!"

...that we would be petitioning our Holy Father to clarify Holy Communion for adulterers and fornicators? 

Well Pope Francis, you have succeeded...you have given us a mess, disorder and trouble in dioceses around the world. 

I am sure your father is proud of your unholy accomplishments.

Well done, loyal servant to the devil, well done. 



In Christ, 

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 



Links: 

https://twitter.com/CardinalNapier/status/816969704489308160

http://catholiccitizens.org/news/69452/african-cardinal-asks-good-question-communion-polygamists/

http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDFDIVOR.htm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20130725/lt-brazil-pope/?utm_hp_ref=world&ir=world

They're coming out of the woodwork now

Hallelujah! 

Praise God for all the wonderful Catholics who are calling on Pope Francis to revoke his heretical statements! 

Michael Matt, John Vennari and Christoper Ferrara: HERE. 

God bless every one of them! 

Here's another: 

Essay to Pope Francis: HERE. [pdf]


Source: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/top-philosopher-pope-must-revoke-objectively-heretical-statements-to-avoid

May God have mercy! 

In Christ, 


Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 

Another scandal from the Holy Father

Open adulterers no longer need to repent of their mortal sin in order to receive Holy Communion in Christ's Holy Catholic Church, says Pope Francis (Amoris Laetitia). 

Quote from Robert Royal is editor-in-chief of The Catholic Thing: "Indeed, Catholics have a new teaching now, not only on divorce and remarriage. We have a new vision of the Eucharist. It’s worth recalling that in January the pope, coyly, not ruling it out, suggested to a group of Lutherans in Rome that they, too, should “talk with the Lord” and “go forward.” Indeed, they later took Communion at Mass in the Vatican. In a way, that was even more significant. A Catholic couple, divorced and remarried, are sinners, but – at least in principle – still Catholic. Has intercommunion with non-Catholic Christians also been decided now without any consultation – almost as if such a momentous step in understanding the Sacrament of Unity hardly matters? 
I say this in sorrow, but I’m afraid that the rest of this papacy is now going to be rent by bands of dissenters, charges of papal heresy, threats of – and perhaps outright –schism. Lord, have mercy." [clipped] 

Source: https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2016/09/14/a-bizarre-papal-move/

The good folks at EWTN are just as dumbfounded as the rest of us at this latest scandal from our current 'merciful' pope. 

Clearly they are stunned, unhappy and (I think) holding back the desire to scream their outrage at this latest horror from our current pope. 

EWTN's Raymond Arroyo on his show "The World Over" first stepped up to the plate about this pope, just months ago... 

(my post on that: http://connecticutcatholiccorner.blogspot.com/2016/06/ewtn-takes-on-pope-francis-problem.html )

I'd ask  "what's next?" but we already know what is coming, Christ's Holy Catholic Church is about to celebrate excommunicated heretic Martin Luther with Pope Francis presiding over the entire event. God help us!

This pope continues to scandalize the faithful. Some in the Catholic media warn that for Catholics to point these scandals out we are putting fear into the faithful and causing people to leave the Church. Yet I believe, the pope is sending a great many people out the doors of the Church, not Catholic bloggers, newspapers or media outlets.  This falls squarely on the pope. 

On September 14, 2016 over at "Torch of the Faith" Catholic website I found an excellent article called "A Timely Reminder", I want to share a quote from that article for Catholics like me who are scandalized with our current pope and all that is going on with our Church today...

quote (in part): A Timely Reminder
"Today's feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross provides a timely reminder that the ultimate victory will be that of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
No matter how bad things get for the Church and Her members, we can rely on that great certainty.
During the last couple of days, I have read comments at other sites about people who were getting shaky in their Faith because of all that is happening to the Church: I read of one woman who had decided that Pope Francis had so contradicted previous Magisterial teaching that she had given up on the whole thing; I read of a man who had stopped going to Confession and was now beginning to have doubts about the whole notion of organized religion; and I read of others who thought their efforts to be faithful to Christ had all been in vain.
I feel for people in this situation. I really do. We can make no bones about the fact that these are extremely grim times for Catholics everywhere.
However, it is essential to bear in mind that Christ has promised that He shall remain with His Church until the end of time; and that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against Her (Matthew 16:18).
As we generally remind ourselves and our readers each New Year's Day: ''Jesus Christ is the Lord of the cosmos and of history. In Him, human history and indeed all Creation are 'set forth' and transcendently fulfilled'' (Catechism of the Catholic Church: CCC 668).
We also do well to have a solid grasp of real Catholic doctrine. For example, the Church teaches that popes are Infallible under certain clear conditions. The Church has never taught that popes are impeccable.
Awareness of Spiritual Warfare
Because of our fallen nature, it is a classical trick of Satan to try and get us to rebel against God, in the manner of our First Parents Adam and Eve, when things either go wrong, or appear to be going wrong for us.
Also, Satan being the ultimate deceiver can confuse us into thinking that things are much worse than they truly are.
Thoughts and feelings of despair come from the infernal enemy of our souls. Inspirations of faith, hope and charity come to us from God's grace; mediated to us by Our Lady, the Saints and our Guardian Angels.
Unfortunately, the person who chooses to despair and give up the Faith has at some deep level made a decision that they know better than God and the Church. This is a classical example of pride. It is important to grasp the fact that this final collapse has normally been achieved through defeats and compromises with incremental attacks from Satan and his minions.
For the person that has practiced the Faith, the destruction wrought by Satan once they leave the protection of the Church would perhaps be swift.
This is why it is essential to remain focused on Christ and His promises to the Church. There is no way that any of us, or even all of us together, could defeat Satan without Christ and His Church. We are fallen creatures with a tendency to sin and intellects far below that of Satan. Without Christ we can do nothing; with Him we can do all things (Philippians 4:13). 

A Personal Experience

I have shared before that I was tempted to leave the Church back in 2009, when Modernists seemed to be stitching up the last vestiges of orthodox hopes here in England. I remember thinking that we had been through so much at the hands of dissenters, and that things had become so corrupt, that I was just getting out of the Church. At that point, I saw a mental picture of myself standing at the edge of a ship, about to step off into a black and storm-tossed sea. Thanks be to God, this helped me to come to my senses and remain lashed to the Barque of Peter by the Sacraments, Sacred Scripture and Tradition, prayer and reading key spiritual writers. God's grace enabled me to see that I would have been rapidly destroyed if I had tried to fight corruption by leaving the only supernatural means available to do this in this world. That is because I, like everyone else in this world, am also corrupted by my own sins and sinful tendencies." [clipped] 

Please read the full article: http://www.torchofthefaith.com/news.php?extend.1409.1

What a beautiful way to express what so many Catholics are facing right now! 

We must NOT abandon Christ's Holy Catholic Church, but rather cling to Her in this time of so much corruption coming from inside the Church. 

Satan wants us to "abandon ship" and leave the Ark of our Salvation that Christ gave us on earth. He is cunning, sly, deceitful and wicked. We must not fall for his traps- even if they come in the form of a merciful pope spouting things never taught before by the Church. 

Stay with the only Church Jesus Christ created on earth, focus on the things of God officially taught by our Holy Church for centuries, not the current ramblings of any wayward clergy. 

They speak with forked tongues. 


In Christ, 


Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 

***

Other articles I've written on this issue: 

We have a pope problem and we can't ignore it!

The New Age of Pope Francis' Church 

Is it a sin to tell Pope Francis to shut up? 

How do you stop a pope who has gone off the rails? 

Life Site News: Plea to the Pope video

*loud wild applause* 

From Youtube video description: 

Published on Jul 13, 2016
ROME, July 13, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) -- In a spirit of love, humility, and faithfulness, 16 international life and family advocates are asking Pope Francis in a powerful new video to unambiguously speak the truth of the Catholic faith, to end doctrinal confusion, to restore clarity, and to be the Holy Father that Catholics need. 

“We are living in a very special time of a deep crisis of faith inside the Church,” said Bishop Athanasius Schneider, the Auxiliary in the diocese of Maria Santissima in Kazakhstan, who opens the video, produced by LifeSiteNews. 

“It is not a secret. It is very evident. A lot of people, the simple faithful, are suffering because of the situation of confusion,” he added. 

The 30-minute film, titled Plea to the Pope, comes in the wake of confusion caused by the pope’s April release of his Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, in which he made a number of concerning statements about marriage, divorce, sin, reception of Holy Communion, and sex education for children. The Exhortation has generated numerous contradictory interpretations from various theologians as well as cardinals and bishops. 

Bishop Schneider called it “very urgent” that the pope “states more clearly, in a very unambiguous manner — in such a manner which will not leave any space for misinterpretations — [on] the issues of family and the sacredness of marriage.” 

The film contains an impressive lineup of international life and family advocates who decided that the time had come to voice their concerns for the good of the Church, of souls, and of nations. 

Watch short version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR4xcStBARU

Read full report at LifeSiteNews.com: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/plea-to-the-pope-life-and-family-leaders-call-on-pope-to-end-the-confusion

Sign Petition to Pope Francis here: https://www.lifesitenews.com/petitions/pray-for-pope-francis



God bless you to ALL who took part in this video!  Thank you for speaking out! I pray that this video message will reach the Holy Father and he will listen.

So happy this video has been made!  Praise the Lord!


In Christ,


Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner

This weekend's must reads...

Here is a list of what I think are "must reads" for Catholics...

LifeSiteNews article on the bizarre things Pope Francis has said and done since becoming pope.  This one is very telling about the problems/chaos/confusion/you name it, that Pope Francis has caused the world: 

Link: https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/confusing-even-the-elect-the-troubling-statements-of-pope-francis

quote (in part):  Pope Francis was quoted as saying:It concerns me; when I was elected, I received a letter from one of these groups, and they said: “Your Holiness, we offer you this spiritual treasure: 3,525 rosaries.” Why don't they say, “we pray for you, we ask...”, but this thing of counting... And these groups return to practices and to disciplines that I lived through - not you, because you are not old - to disciplines, to things that in that moment took place, but not now, they do not exist today...

 “There is no way,” I remember thinking to myself, “a Pope would ever say anything slighting the rosary.” That aspect of the interview made me question whether any of it was authentic. Thus, I resisted the pressure to publish a story on the Pope’s remarks on the ‘gay lobby’ in the Vatican. A few weeks later I was in Rome and finally got a chance to ask someone in the know about the leaked interview. I was shocked to hear: “of course it was true.” 

***

Bishop Athanasius Schneider's letter to The Remnant. 

Link: http://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/2558-bishop-athanasius-schneider-replies-to-the-remnant-s-open-letter-on-amoris-laetitia


***

Judge sentences a Catholic man to attend Baptist services.

Link: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/catholic-man-sentenced-to-attend-baptist-church-services-for-real-73657/

I'd have taken the jail time, before I'd let a judge force me to attend another religion's services. This should be unconstitutional and illegal and I'd fight back. 

***

Crisis Magazine has an article on trans-gendered teachers in Catholic schools- and the nuns who don't seem to care or see a problem with it...

Quote: "The sisters who run Mercy High School clearly think it does not. Sister Laura Reicks, president of the 16-state region of the Sisters of Mercy West Midwest Community, told the San Francisco Chronicle, “Their personal lives are completely separate from their qualifications as teachers. We are concerned about the education of young women, and we do not consider personal criteria when we hire the best person for each position.”
This unfortunate position violates Canon Law, which requires that “teachers are to be outstanding in correct doctrine and integrity of life.” Further, the National Directory for Catechesis instructs Catholic school administrators to, “Recruit teachers who are practicing Catholics, who can understand and accept the teachings of the Catholic Church and the moral demands of the gospel, and who can contribute to the achievement of the school’s Catholic identity and apostolic goals” (p. 231)."

Link: http://www.crisismagazine.com/2016/transgender-teachers-catholic-schoolsutm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CrisisMagazine+%28Crisis+Magazine%29


***

And, in case you missed it (like me), just WHAT happened on Good Friday at the Vatican? 

quote (in part): "If this wasn’t enough, there was a cherry to top off the Bergoglian Holy Week…and those of us who were present in the Saint Peter’s Basilica encountered the greatest shock of our lives. Who could have imagined this nightmare? The Bishop of Rome, in the presence of the cardinals and bishops, and all of the faithful, listening to Martin Luther himself preaching in the capital of Catholicism. Sounds unreal? No, in fact the only difference from what we just affirmed is that Luther vomited his heterodoxies through the mouth of the “Preacher to the Papal Household” Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM. Some faithful left the ceremony saying… “this is the end!”
   Given the shocking dimensions of such an unheard of happening in the history of the Church, — the principle heresy of Luther condemned by the Church, being proclaimed from the papal pulpit in the central Basilica of Christianity, before those who should defend the opposite truth with their own lives — we cannot help but make a parallel with the very Passion of Christ.     The fact that this occurred on a Good Friday couldn’t make matters more poignant. Let us take a look at the words that were pronounced on the same day that Christ was condemned to death:
    “There is a danger that people can hear about the righteousness of God but not understand its meaning, so instead of being encouraged they are frightened. St. Augustine had already clearly explained its meaning centuries ago: “The ‘righteousness of God’ is that by which we are made righteous, just as ‘the salvation of God’ [see Ps 3:8] means the salvation by which he saves us.” [6]    In other words, the righteousness of God is that by which God makes those who believe in his Son Jesus acceptable to him. It does not enact justice but makes people just. Luther deserves the credit for bringing this truth back when its meaning had been lost over the centuries, at least in Christian preaching, and it is this above all for which Christianity is indebted to the Reformation, whose fifth centenary occurs next year. The reformer later wrote that when he discovered this, “I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates.” [7] (Fr. Raniero Cantalamess, Saint Peter’s Basilica, Good Friday, March 25, 2016)
   Never, not even during his wildest deliriums, could Luther have ever imagine that his primary doctrines would be proclaimed on a Good Friday, by the official preacher of the Papal Household, before those who he had labelled as the “diabolical scum of Rome”. Never could he have imagined that his entire ecclesial revolution would be celebrated five centuries later by the Church itself, which he had denominated as a “diabolical institution” and the “great prostitute of Babylon”. [8]
   Now all that is left is for Luther to scale the altars…and perhaps be placed between St. Robert Bellarmine and St. Theresa of Avila for public veneration!" 

Link: https://en.denzingerbergoglio.com/2016/04/20/luther-preaches-in-saint-peters-basilicaon-good-friday/

***

God bless and save us! 


In Christ,


Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 

Bishop Schneider responds to Pope's "Amoris Laetitia" document

On May 10, 2016 Christopher Ferrara wrote an open letter to Bishop Anathansius Schneider about Pope Francis' "Amoris Laetitia" document- the product produced from the Synod on the Family. 

The open letter was published in The Remnant Newspaper (see HERE). 

This week, the good Bishop responded- and what an amazing response!

quote (in part):  "In these our dark times, in which Our Beloved Lord seems to sleep in the boat of His Holy Church, all Catholics, beginning from the bishops up to the simplest faithful, who still take seriously their baptismal vows, should with one voice (“una voce”) make a profession of fidelity, enunciating concretely and clearly all those Catholic truths, which are in some expressions of AL undermined or ambiguously disfigured. It would be a kind of a “Credo” of the people of God. AL is clearly a pastoral document (i.e., by its nature of temporal character) and has no claims to be definitive. We have to avoid to “make infallible” every word and gesture of a current Pope. This is contrary to the teaching of Jesus and of the whole Tradition of the Church. Such a totalitarian understanding and application of Papal infallibility is not Catholic, is ultimately worldly, like in a dictatorship; it is against the spirit of the Gospel and of the Fathers of the Church. Beside the above mentioned possible common profession of fidelity, there should be made to my opinion, by competent scholars of dogmatic and moral theology also a solid analysis of all ambiguous and objectively erroneous expressions in AL. Such a scientific analysis should be made without anger and partiality (“sine ira et studio”) and out of filial deference to the Vicar of Christ."

Please visit The Remnant Newspaper website to read the full letter: http://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/2558-bishop-athanasius-schneider-replies-to-the-remnant-s-open-letter-on-amoris-laetitia


In Christ,


Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner



Source: 
http://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/2512-an-open-letter-to-bishop-athanasius-schneider