 | CARDINAL KASPER interprète à sa manière la dernière encyclique! |
 Imprimer |
| Auteur : Jean KINZLER |
| Sujet : CARDINAL KASPER interprète à sa manière la dernière encyclique! |
| Date : 2003-05-23 18:57:30 |
21-May-2003 -- Catholic World News Brief CARDINAL KASPER OFFERS INTERPRETATION OF PAPAL ENCYCLICAL Vatican, May. 21 (CWNews.com) - Cardinal Walter Kasper, the president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, has offered clarification for statements in which his position seemed to differ from the teaching of Pope John Paul's latest encyclical. In an interview with the Italian monthly 30 Giorni, Cardinal Kasper spoke about two controversial topics that were mentioned by the Pontiff in Ecclesia de Eucharistia: allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion, and "Eucharistic hospitality" with other Christian denominations. In his encyclical, Pope John Paul reaffirmed the Church's teaching the couples who are divorced and remarried should not receive the Eucharist, since they are living in a situation that separates them from the sacramental life of the Church. Similarly, he argued that Protestants should not receive Communion-- nor should Catholics participate in communion services in other churches-- since the reception of the Eucharist implies a communion of faith that does not exist. While he did not express disagreement with the Pope on these points, Cardinal Kasper argued that there are special circumstances that might warrant a reconsideration of Church discipline. 30 Giorni prodded the cardinal to explain the statements that he and Cardinal Karl Lehmann had made in 1993, when the German prelates said that pastors should use "pastoral discernment" in judging whether or not remarried Catholics should receive the Eucharist. Their remarks were widely interpreted as a indication of approval for allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion. Apparently uncomfortable with that line of questioning, Cardinal Kasper told the magazine: "We did not affirm that divorced and remarried people, understood as a sociological category, should approach the Eucharist." Rather, he said: "We only suggested that, in evaluating particular cases, pastoral discernment is useful." "The rule is maintained" in all such cases, the cardinal contended, "in the sense that everyone who wishes to receive the sacraments must show a sincere intention for conversion." But there are cases, he argued, in which individuals were "unable to produce proof of nullity-- a nullity of which they are certain-- regarding their first marriages. Such circumstances, he said, "should be taken into account in judging delicate cases." Regarding the practice of sharing the Eucharist with Christians of other denominations, Cardinal Kasper said that it was wrong to suggest that Ecclesia de Eucharistia had raised new obstacles to ecumenical progress. He cited the president of the Evangelical Church Council in Germany, Manfred Kock, who "recognized, realistically, that the document did not mark a step backward, but repeated with rigor the Catholic norm regarding relations with Christians of other churches and ecclesial communities concerning the Eucharistic celebration." Cardinal Kasper went on to point out that the encyclical says there are extraordinary circumstances when Protestants might be admitted to Communion in a Catholic church, when they are "well disposed" toward the Eucharist, and in cases of "grave spiritual need." The cardinal summarized these requirements by saying that the individual should be able to "say 'Amen' to the real presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharistic species, consecrated at a Mass during which we pray for the Pope by name." "If an individual says 'Amen' to all that," the cardinal concluded, "he is well disposed." Click here to share this news story with a friend. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
