German Bishops officially open up Holy Communion to Non-Catholics

[St.Justin]

 All Hell Breaks Loose - German Bishops officially open up Holy Communion to Non-Catholics
The Francis Effect meeting the German Heresiarchy leads to an explosive decision of cataclysmic consequences.

Naturally, this Rome will not reject this aberration. This Vatican will welcome it. This pontificate will rejoice in it.

Report and translations from CNA/EWTN:

    Cardinal Reinhard Marx has announced that the German bishops' conference will publish a pastoral handout for married couples that allows Protestant spouses of Catholics "in individual cases" and "under certain conditions" to receive Holy Communion, provided they "affirm the Catholic faith in the Eucharist".

    According to the press report of the Archbishop of Munich and Freising, the handout is primarily aimed at pastoral workers and is to be understood as a tool for pastoral situations, "to consider the concrete situation and come to a responsible decision about the possibility of the non-Catholic partner to receive Communion".

    The announcement was made "after intensive debate" at the conclusion of the general assembly of the German bishops' conference, which was held Feb. 19 - 22 in the Bavarian city of Ingolstadt, and attended by 62 members of the bishops' conference under the leadership of conference chairman Cardinal Marx.

    The press release declares that its premise is that "in individual cases, the spiritual hunger for receiving Communion together in interdenominational marriages can be so strong that it could jeopardise the marriage and the faith of the spouse". The statement goes on to say that this applies all the more to spouses who "already want to live out their marriage very consciously" as a Christian couple.

    The central message of the handout is "that everyone in a marriage that binds denominations," after a "mature examination in a spiritual conversation with their priest or another person charged with pastoral care, that has come to a decision of conscience to affirm the Faith of the Catholic Church as well as thereby concluding a 'grave spiritual need' as well as fulfilling the desire to receive the Eucharist may approach the Lord's table and receive Communion."

    Cardinal Marx' statement emphasises: "We are talking about decisions in individual cases that require a careful spiritual discernment."

    The handout is expected to be published in a few weeks' time.
https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2018/02/all-hell-breaks-loose-german-bishops.html#more

[CMTV]

This is actually true. Marx is simply drawing from and applying the fake Canon Law published by John Paul II. Certainly, he is softening the conditions somewhat, but that's just accidental to the fundamental point: As long as there is a "sufficient reason", then Protestants can licitly receive Novus Ordo sacraments, according to Canon 844. Now it's just a matter of tweaking that "sufficient reason" a bit, and the bogus Canon Law is vague enough to allow for plenty of room — hardly an oversight.

So, for once the German "bishops" aren't to blame: John Paul II did it. Doubters can find this confirmed also by the hardcore "conservative" Novus Ordo bastion Catholic Answers, who published the following video of their senior apologist Jimmy Akin:
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pQIYpYEsCc[/yt]

In sum: Giving "Holy Communion" to Protestants is not something the German "bishops" just invented as the latest manifestation of the Francis Effect. No, it has been the official law of the Vatican II Sect since 1983. Laws like this are little time bombs. They may not get noticed much until someone actually starts applying them.

And then indeed all hell breaks loose.

Source

[LausTibiChriste]

Akin needs Akins

[St.Justin]

I guess one big question for me at least is why not question the spouse as to why, if the believe and hold the Catholic Faith, why don't they just become Catholic and that would solve the problem.

[Cameron PM]

I guess one big question for me at least is why not question the spouse as to why, if the believe and hold the Catholic Faith, why don't they just become Catholic and that would solve the problem.

I was thinking the same thing. If a Protestant spouse feels so inclined to receive the Blessed Eucharist, then, why not take the steps and make a profession of faith - get confirmed. If they acknowledge that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Our Lord, what prevents them from furthering their character and coming home, to freely receive without obstacle the comfort and assistance that the rest of the sacraments also deliver.

[St. Columba]

Akin needs Akins

...which is akin to Atkins?  I think he may need to go back and enroll in KIN101.  But they are kindred spirits.  Either way, it will affect his next of kin, nay, all of his kinsfolk.

[Lynne]

This is actually true. Marx is simply drawing from and applying the fake Canon Law published by John Paul II. Certainly, he is softening the conditions somewhat, but that's just accidental to the fundamental point: As long as there is a "sufficient reason", then Protestants can licitly receive Novus Ordo sacraments, according to Canon 844. Now it's just a matter of tweaking that "sufficient reason" a bit, and the bogus Canon Law is vague enough to allow for plenty of room — hardly an oversight.

So, for once the German "bishops" aren't to blame: John Paul II did it. Doubters can find this confirmed also by the hardcore "conservative" Novus Ordo bastion Catholic Answers, who published the following video of their senior apologist Jimmy Akin:
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pQIYpYEsCc[/yt]

In sum: Giving "Holy Communion" to Protestants is not something the German "bishops" just invented as the latest manifestation of the Francis Effect. No, it has been the official law of the Vatican II Sect since 1983. Laws like this are little time bombs. They may not get noticed much until someone actually starts applying them.

And then indeed all hell breaks loose.

Source

And this...

"While it is never legitimate to concelebrate [the New Mass] in the absence of full communion, the same is not true with respect to the administration of the Eucharist under special circumstances, to individual persons belonging to Churches or Ecclesial Communities not in full communion with the Catholic Church."

(John Paul II, "Encyclical" Ecclesia De Eucharistia, n. 45)

[Miriam_M]

Akin needs Akins

Did you mean Atkins?

In any case, his hugely new weight caused me not to recognize him.

[CMTV]

Akin needs Akins

Did you mean Atkins?

In any case, his hugely new weight caused me not to recognize him.

Don't know about his recent figure, however that video is 7 o 8 years old.

[Kreuzritter]

I would have imagined that "special circumstances" could only mean life-threatening circumstances in which such a person abjures his heresy and schism and confesses the Catholic Faith but has not yet been officially brought into communion with the Church.

But then this is the Novus Ordo we're talking about ...

[aquinas138]

I would have imagined that "special circumstances" could only mean life-threatening circumstances in which such a person abjures his heresy and schism and confesses the Catholic Faith but has not yet been officially brought into communion with the Church.

But then this is the Novus Ordo we're talking about ...

I think it basically means whenever the Ordinary judges it opportune. I imagine he only falls afoul of the 1983 Code if he established a blanket policy stating that all Protestants can receive Communion. Cover it up in enough "discernment," and it can have the same effect.

[Richard Malcolm]

Canonist Dr. Ed Peters - who I would characterize as conservative, though increasingly skeptical of this pontificate makes the point that this might be technically legal on some level, but is a terrible idea - and in fact, it was a mistake for John Paul II to ever approve this as law:

3. This one is licit, strictly speaking, but such a bad idea that the canon allowing it probably needs to reformed. Once again, the German bishops are acting, but the law was convenient so it was respected.

Canon 844 § 4 allows baptized non-Catholics to receive holy Communion if "grave necessity urges" the local bishop or (here) the conference of bishops to allow such reception, provided further only that those seeking holy Communion claim (as most can) to satisfy some practical and minimal credal criteria. Effectively, then, the canon expects the "grave necessity" requirement to keep the Communion rite at Mass from turning into a free samples line.

The problem, obviously, is about when (besides, one might concede, at the time of death, an option already allowed under a different part of the canon) is it ever gravely necessary for non-Catholics to receive holy Communion? Not, when might it be helpful or decorous or embarrassment-squelching to receive holy Communion, but when is it necessary for them to receive, and gravely necessary to boot?

I suggest, Never. Even Catholics are required to receive holy Communion only once a year (c.  920).

But, unless the canon is establishing a criterion that can never be satisfied, what does the clause "grave necessity" mean? Apparently, pretty much whatever a bishop or (here) conference of bishops decides it means, including, as the Germans have decided, non-Catholic spouses who assert "serious spiritual distress" and a "longing to satisfy hunger for the Eucharist"—albeit, exactly the kind of healthy spiritual ferment that has occasioned countless baptized persons over the centuries to seek full communion with the Catholic Church. So much for that motivation.

Nevertheless this ruling falls narrowly within the law, I think, suggesting that maybe the law's desire to legislate on an admittedly "hard case" has resulted in a bad law. As hard cases usually do. Other "hard cases" will doubtless follow. Just watch.

A last thought. How the Germans' ruling on non-Catholic spouses receiving holy Communion will combine with their recent provisions for divorced-and-remarried Catholics receiving holy Communion—well, it makes the head spin.

Link: https://canonlawblog.wordpress.com/2018/02/23/an-important-week-for-eucharistic-discipline-or-lack-thereof/

[Heinrich]

Einfach wahnsinnig.