Tag: Catholic bishops

Posted on

Catholic bishops adopt Pope Francis’ call for a more welcoming church

Mount Carmel

OCTOBER 24, 2015, 4:28 PM    LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2015, 11:53 PM
BY NICOLE WINFIELD AND DANIELA PETROFF
ASSOCIATED PRESS

VATICAN CITY — Catholic bishops called Saturday for a more welcoming church for cohabitating couples and Catholics who have divorced and civilly remarried, endorsing Pope Francis’ call for a more merciful and less judgmental church.

Bishops from around the world adopted a final document at the end of a divisive, three-week synod that exposed the split in the church between conservatives and progressives over how to better minister to Catholic families today.

In a win for the progressive camp, the document emphasized the role of discernment and individual conscience in dealing with difficult family situations, especially the vexing issue of whether civilly remarried Catholics can receive Communion.

Conservatives had resisted offering any wiggle room on the issue, since church teaching holds that such Catholics are committing adultery and are therefore barred from receiving the sacraments. While the document doesn’t chart any specific path to receiving Communion as originally sought by the liberals, it opens the door to case-by-case exceptions.

“We are so happy that we could give this to the pope,” said German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who spearheaded the progressive camp on the issue. He called the document a “historic step.”

Through a spokesman, Newark Arch­bishop John J. Myers declined to comment on the synod document, saying he had not yet read it Saturday evening. The final report was released by the Vatican in Italian and will be translated later into other languages.

“When bishops have had a chance to look at it, he’s going to give it a lot of thought,” said Jim Goodness, an archdiocese spokesman.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/catholic-bishops-at-synod-call-for-a-more-welcoming-church-1.1440630

Posted on

Catholic bishops take first step toward acceptance of gays in church

images-4

Catholic bishops take first step toward acceptance of gays in church

OCTOBER 13, 2014, 12:57 PM    LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2014, 9:59 PM
BY ABBOTT KOLOFF
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

Reformers praised it as a monumental shift in Catholic Church thinking, while some conservatives labeled it heresy. But a deepening debate Monday over a Vatican report that could lead to greater acceptance of gay people in the church, among other major changes, might be greeted in North Jersey as a much-needed and long-overdue discussion.

“Most clergy would be relieved that they are discussing it,” predicted The Rev. Monsignor Raymond J. Kupke, who teaches church history at Seton Hall University’s seminary. “In the trenches, we are faced with how to include people in the life of the church.”

A committee of bishops at a Vatican synod, called by Pope Francis to examine family-related issues, presented a preliminary report Monday that included a declaration that gay people have gifts to offer the church and that their relationships, while morally problematic, have some merit. The report also discussed changing attitudes toward divorced people and unmarried couples who live together.

It seemed to go far beyond comments Pope Francis made about gay people last year, when he famously said “Who am I to judge?” Bishops said in the report, widely considered to reflect the Pope’s thinking, that gay relationships, while remaining in conflict with church doctrine, provide “a precious support in the life of the partners.”

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/catholic-bishops-take-first-step-toward-acceptance-of-gays-in-church-video-1.1108340#sthash.uwuzNVz8.dpuf