Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Get ready for it: Via a general news story on the new pope, Cardinal Ratzinger - Pope Benedict XVI on Life, Faith, Family and Freedom, we found this: (emp add) Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion. General Principles
by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
1. Presenting oneself to receive Holy Communion should be a conscious decision, based on a reasoned judgement regarding one’s worthiness to do so, according to the Church’s objective criteria, asking such questions as: "Am I in full communion with the Catholic Church? Am I guilty of grave sin? Have I incurred a penalty (e.g. excommunication, interdict) that forbids me to receive Holy Communion? Have I prepared myself by fasting for at least an hour?" The practice of indiscriminately presenting oneself to receive Holy Communion, merely as a consequence of being present at Mass, is an abuse that must be corrected (cf. Instruction "Redemptionis Sacramentum," nos. 81, 83).
2. The Church teaches that abortion or euthanasia is a grave sin. The Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae, with reference to judicial decisions or civil laws that authorise or promote abortion or euthanasia, states that there is a "grave and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection. [...] In the case of an intrinsically unjust law, such as a law permitting abortion or euthanasia, it is therefore never licit to obey it, or to ‘take part in a propoganda campaign in favour of such a law or vote for it’" (no. 73). Christians have a "grave obligation of conscience not to cooperate formally in practices which, even if permitted by civil legislation, are contrary to God’s law. Indeed, from the moral standpoint, it is never licit to cooperate formally in evil. [...] This cooperation can never be justified either by invoking respect for the freedom of others or by appealing to the fact that civil law permits it or requires it" (no. 74).
3. Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.
4. Apart from an individuals’s judgement about his worthiness to present himself to receive the Holy Eucharist, the minister of Holy Communion may find himself in the situation where he must refuse to distribute Holy Communion to someone, such as in cases of a declared excommunication, a declared interdict, or an obstinate persistence in manifest grave sin (cf. can. 915).
5. Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a person’s formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), his Pastor should meet with him, instructing him about the Church’s teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist.
6. When "these precautionary measures have not had their effect or in which they were not possible," and the person in question, with obstinate persistence, still presents himself to receive the Holy Eucharist, "the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it" (cf. Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts Declaration "Holy Communion and Divorced, Civilly Remarried Catholics" [2002], nos. 3-4). This decision, properly speaking, is not a sanction or a penalty. Nor is the minister of Holy Communion passing judgement on the person’s subjective guilt, but rather is reacting to the person’s public unworthiness to receive Holy Communion due to an objective situation of sin.
[N.B. A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for Holy Communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate’s permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia. When a Catholic does not share a candidate’s stand in favour of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons.]
posted by Quiddity at 4/20/2005 01:49:00 AM
3 comments
Shorter Ratzinger:
It's OK for Republicans to disagree with the Holy Church, but never for Democrats.
On a different but slightly related topic--note that there is nothing wrong with divorce in Catholic tradition. The problem is if, as this passage notes, one civilly remarries. If you remarry, then you may receive holy communion if you seek to live together with your new spouse "as brother and sister."
I know it seems crazy that if you just sleep around after you divorce, or even while maried, you can receive communion, but if you remarry you can't. But the church assumes that if you're sleeping around that when you go to receive communion you have truly repented and have pledged yourself to stop sleeping around and if you're weak, well, we're all sinners. On the other hand, if you have remarried, unless you have chosen to live with your new spouse celibately, the church figures by your very remarriage you are proclaiming that you haven't repented, that is you have not pledged yourself to stop sinning in this manner, and thus you remeain in this condition of sin in which you shouldn't receive communion.
Anyway, these sorts of notions are involved with why certain things can be argued about and it is OK to disagree with the Pope and others are not. But mostly, I just hate to see all the grief that has been caused by the notion that the Church forbids divorce. The Church forbids remarriage.
On a different but slightly related topic--note that there is nothing wrong with divorce in Catholic tradition. The problem is if, as this passage notes, one civilly remarries. If you remarry, then you may receive holy communion if you seek to live together with your new spouse "as brother and sister."
I know it seems crazy that if you just sleep around after you divorce, or even while maried, you can receive communion, but if you remarry you can't. But the church assumes that if you're sleeping around that when you go to receive communion you have truly repented and have pledged yourself to stop sleeping around and if you're weak, well, we're all sinners. On the other hand, if you have remarried, unless you have chosen to live with your new spouse celibately, the church figures by your very remarriage you are proclaiming that you haven't repented, that is you have not pledged yourself to stop sinning in this manner, and thus you remeain in this condition of sin in which you shouldn't receive communion.
Anyway, these sorts of notions are involved with why certain things can be argued about and it is OK to disagree with the Pope and others are not. But mostly, I just hate to see all the grief that has been caused by the notion that the Church forbids divorce. The Church forbids remarriage.
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