On Saturday, March 11, a new pastoral letter (PDF link) was issued by the bishops of Malta to be read in all parish Masses. In it, they address — rather abruptly, and without introduction as part of a larger reflection — the question of their approach to providing sacraments to the “remarried”:
[W]e, Bishops, gave our priests a number of criteria to assist couples who find themselves in complex situations, either in their married life, or in their life together. We, Bishops, are not giving permission to a category of people to receive Communion without going through the necessary process of discernment. In no way do we want to lessen the power of the Lord’s Gospel on the family and marriage. At one with the heart of the Pope, we, Bishops, would like to draw the heart of the Church closer to each and every one of you, to each and every one of our brothers and sisters who are going through difficult situations. The priest, in our name and on behalf of the Church, does not hide the words of Jesus, nor does he fail to convey the merciful heart of the Lord.
As the Pope teaches, the temptations that we mentioned apply to everyone. They also apply to those who are preparing for marriage. As a Christian community, we are committed to announce marriage as it has been created by God: a permanent union between one man and one woman, open to the gift of life. The fact that we care for our brothers and sisters who have made different choices in their affective life, does not in any way detract from the beauty of the Gospel that has been from the very beginning the Gospel of the Joy of love between one man and one woman. [emphasis added]
As OnePeterFive has previously reported, however, the Maltese bishops’ guidelines on Amoris Laetitia provide one of the most permissive interpretations of the exhortation issued to date. A look at the Maltese bishops’ guidelines shows just how anemic their standards for “discernment” really are:
9. Throughout the discernment process, we should also examine the possibility of conjugal continence. Despite the fact that this ideal is not at all easy, there may be couples who, with the help of grace, practice this virtue without putting at risk other aspects of their life together. On the other hand, there are complex situations where the choice of living “as brothers and sisters” becomes humanly impossible and give rise to greater harm (see AL, note 329).
10. If, as a result of the process of discernment, undertaken with “humility, discretion and love for the Church and her teaching, in a sincere search for God’s will and a desire to make a more perfect response to it” (AL 300), a separated or divorced person who is living in a new relationship manages, with an informed and enlightened conscience, to acknowledge and believe that he or she are at peace with God, he or she cannot be precluded from participating in the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist (see AL, notes 336 and 351).
Fr. Brian Harrison’s January 16 analysis of these guidelines punctures the feigned innocence of the Maltese bishops’ March 11 letter:
“Humanly impossible”, Your Excellencies? Have you forgotten that the Council of Trent has anathematized as heresy the view that, even with the help of sanctifying grace, compliance with God’s commands can sometimes be impossible? (Cf. canon 18 on justification, Dz 828 [DS/DH 1568].) And how could obeying a divine command ever “give rise to greater harm” than disobeying it? Would it not be blasphemous to suggest that our loving Father could ever command us to do something that is to our real detriment, not our benefit?
It is all too easy to foresee the conclusion that will naturally be drawn from this paragraph (art. 9) by invalidly remarried Maltese Catholics: “Our official teachers of the faith are clearly telling us that sex between divorced and civilly remarried couples is not always gravely sinful; for they’re saying that the ‘brother-sister’ option is no longer a prerequisite for receiving the sacraments. And their rationale is that continence is not only humanly impossible for most couples but will in any case usually do more harm than good. So why we should even attempt to live according this so-called ‘ideal’ when our bishops are saying that if we find it too burdensome we can go to Communion anyway?”
Fr. Harrison continues, with specific attention to article 10 of the guidelines:
Thus, Catholics in Malta who are cohabiting with one partner while still legally and sacramentally married to another will henceforth have access to the sacraments on the same basis as the divorced and remarried. Note also the ominous word “cannot” in art. 10. The island nation’s priest confessors are being told they not only may, but must, grant absolution (and thus, access to Communion) to unrepentant adulterers provided only that the latter insist they have “manage[d], with an informed and enlightened conscience, to acknowledge and believe that [they] are at peace with God”. What, then, of the priest whose own “informed and enlightened conscience” tells him he may not comply with this revolutionary diktat? Once again Orwell’s scenario springs to mind: in Malta, it seems, all Catholic consciences may (perhaps) be equal, but some are now clearly “more equal than others”.
Precisely what Fr. Harrison predicted — that priests in Malta would be compelled to offer sacraments to unrepentant adulterers — made headlines just days later as reports surfaced that one of Malta’s two bishops — Mario Grech of Gozo — was overheard on a flight back from Rome threatening a priest with suspension if he did not implement the new guidelines. The Diocese of Gozo later denied these allegations, but a Maltese priest who contacted me with the story stands by them.
Further evidence of this zero-tolerance approach came to light in February, when National Catholic Register Rome correspondent Edward Pentin reported that Archbishop Scicluna of Malta
confirmed to the Register that he told the country’s seminarians earlier this month that if any of them do not agree with Pope Francis, “the seminary gate is open,” implying they are free to leave.
Archbishop Charles Scicluna’s remarks are the latest in what Church sources in Malta say is a heavy-handed crackdown on any ecclesiastic unwilling to subscribe to the Maltese bishops’ interpretation of the apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia — an interpretation the bishops say is identical to the Holy Father’s.
[…]
Since the Criteria were published Jan. 13, a number of clergy sources in Malta have contacted the Register alleging the bishops won’t tolerate any clergy having a different interpretation of Amoris Laetitia than the one presented in the Criteria among the clergy.
According to the sources, three priests are allegedly intimidating anyone who does not agree with the Criteria. The three had been opponents of the previous bishop, Archbishop Paul Cremona, but have now become the present bishops’ allies. One of them reputedly attacks any priest who shares critical stories on the Internet.
“This group of priests, with a few others, have been hogging the conversation for decades,” said a Maltese priest on condition of anonymity. “No one else seems to be allowed to contribute to the debate and they have done untold damage to bridge-building since they brook no opposition.” [emphasis added]
In that same report, Pentin revealed that Archbishop Scicluna, in a meeting with the priests of his diocese,
appealed for understanding, saying he had no choice in co-signing the guidelines. According to sources present, he said in conscience he could not go against the wishes of the Pope.
Such an admission raises questions about whether the Archbishop himself felt pressured to issue the permissive guidelines which, when compared to the pope’s letter affirming similar guidelines from the bishops of the Buenos Aires region, represent what Francis believes is the authoritative interpretation of Amoris Laetitia.
A source who works for the Church in Malta and who spoke to 1P5 on condition of anonymity said that they believed Malta was chosen to be the tip of the spear on permissive guidelines because of the island nation has only two bishops. “It’s easier to get all bishops to agree,” this person said, “When the episcopal conference is tiny.”
They are not fooling anyone. Priests must resist for the sake of all souls!
Including their own.
Indeed (hence the “all”). Trying to pray for them. I don’t understand how you can forget core principles of your vocation – the Christian Mission and Vision; but I guess it’s possible. Fiddling with doctrine given to them by the Lord; kept for 20 generations, despising the blood of martyrs. Totally lost it these guys. What’s worst, when you see your young priests are not buying the rubbish you punish them for doing the right thing. Crazy.
Maybe they never had any. Maybe the whole reason they became priests is precisely to sow darnels.
That is a scary thought MarcAlcan (not impossible but scary). I find it hard to believe rational human beings deliberately do futile things.
All the time they do. Because they think THEY are God.
No. Priests must resist for the the sake of Christ. First and foremost it is Christ that must be the measure of our actions. The battle at the moment is between Christ and the Pope and we must take the side of Christ.
Yes. And their job is to win souls for Christ – Matthew 28:19-20.
Indeed. But ultimately the winning is the done by Christ Himself. They are there only to plant seeds.
True; rather than sowing darnel.
Indeed. The darnels are in full bloom at the moment and they are busy watering and fertilizing them.
If you wish to deceive members of an organization, infiltrate it with people who are experts at telling half-lies. A half-lie is far more powerful than an outright lie, because most people have little difficulty in spotting an outright lie, but those same people most often have a hard time spotting a half-lie.
An invaluable political tool of both the Marxist and the Nazi.
The Marxist, Pope Francis, and his inner circle are experts at telling half-lies – and now it seems, the bishops of Malta have been taught to do the same thing.
Wasn’t that always a strategy of the Left? A half truth which sounds OK is like the devilish “prawn” which has to be taken out of Neo’s belly in Matrix I, remember the story in the car?
Totally agree. From the beginning the devil was subtle.
Oh, what fresh hell is this!?
The new Gospel of Amoris Laetitia. Sounds about right. Caritas is just a tad too impossible for us folks, let’s set the bar at Amor. These people have all but forgotten of the supernatural virtue of charity, of which, by the way, love is a sub-virtue. But when they say love, they actually mean the conjugal act.
The downplaying is abhorrent.
‘We, Bishops, are not giving permission to a category of people to receive Communion without going through the necessary process of discernment.’ But if they pass your little test, you are.
‘As the Pope teaches, the temptations that we mentioned apply to everyone.’ What!? News to me. Didn’t know we all suffer from temptation. (sarcasm off)
‘The priest, in our name and on behalf of the Church, does not hide the words of Jesus, nor does he fail to convey the merciful heart of the Lord.’ Ahm, your Excellencies, yes he does. He does hide the words of Christ and he does fail to convey the merciful heart of the Lord. And you are culpable for that.
This is an ideological war waged on the Church. All this vocabulary that is being used is of diabolical origin (process of discernment, difficult and complex situations, divorced person, living in a new relationship, at peace with God, etc). There is no ‘process of discernment’ with sin. It either is or not a sin, simple. But you might want to call it an examination of conscience. ‘Difficult and complex situations’ is a myth. Again, see the part about sin. There is no ‘divorced person’. He either is married or not. Again, simple. ‘Living in a new relationship’ means that your living with someone who’s not your spouse. Again, sin. And to be ‘at peace with God’ you have to compare your life to objective standards (the Commandments), not with your wishy-washy feelings. It’s really not that hard to talk in plain words, but confusion is the name of the game.
Solution to all this mess: renounce sin, amend your life and then you’re ready to go to Confession and receive Holy Communion. The grace of God is stronger then you might think. Trust!
Spot on commentary Father – especially your last paragraph. It always lifts my spirit when I see priests who are obviously solid and traditional join into the conversations at hand. Without priests, we have no Sacraments – something that is too awful to contemplate. God Bless Father!
What fresh hell? indeed! Love your wordsmithing.
If such continence is thought to be “humanly impossible,” why not chastity itself?
Just wait, that’s next!
Francis has already placed a target on chastity, it is a question of when. Does it appear to you all that Francis is trying to “align“ christianity with all other religions???
” . . . after going through the necessary process of discernment.”. Oh please, you unutterable, flaccid episcopal frauds.
And how will your priests determine if the “discernment process” has been gone through? By the time spent? By the conclusion the couple reaches? By the conviction with which they hold that conclusion?
You bloody Maltese fools. You insufferable incompetents.
I believe Jesus would have used words like: whitewashed tombs and brood of vipers. So is this the modern-day translation? Surely the Lord cannot be pleased with any of it. I think it is too little, too late to try to put the toothpaste back in the tube.
This discernment process is couples therapy in reality. These Maltese bishops are just pawns in the grand scheme of things. ‘The Maltese experiment’. The real perpetrators are the ones in Germany. Now there’s where things have really passed the boiling point for some time. The richest part of the Church, materially speaking, is using it’s money to influence powerful forces in and out of the Church to have papal blessing on their sin. And what is their sin, you might ask?! It’s the sin of Protestantism. The sin of Christ hasn’t really founded the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Jesus Christ isn’t really God in the flesh. Ergo, His words are open to discussion and dialog. And we really can’t be sure of anything he said or done. So, you can ‘discern’ everything for yourself (Protestantism). Of course, you are considered mad and a fool if you hold to the Catholic Faith. But I’ll happily bear the title of mad and fool for the love of God.
Well said, Father. God bless.
In my opinion, the Maltese were slow but finally caught up and overtook the Germans in corruption of the truth. Any Gospel you can twist, I can twist better.
And so, on Malta, the attempt to square the circle continues. The bishops there tell all that “[i]n no way do we want to lessen the power of the Lord’s Gospel on the family and marriage” and “[t]he fact that we care for our brothers and sisters who have made different choices in their affective life, does not in any way detract from the beauty of the Gospel that has been from the very beginning the Gospel of the Joy of love between one man and one woman.” Which leads us to the unavoidable conclusion that, while the Maltese bishops don’t WANT to undermine the Lord’s Gospel, that IS in fact what they are going to do! Houdini couldn’t find his way out of this intellectual and verbal thicket. What a mess! ¡Un verdadero lio del tipo propuesto por el papa!
“Discernment” = teary-eyed, snotty-nosed rationalization with your favorite liberal priest in the reconciliation room.
This is typically scheduled from 4:15-4:45 PM on Saturdays, or you can call the rectory for an appointment.
They (the Maltese bishops) have obviously lost their belief in God as loving and Omnipotent Father who can bestow strength on people who want to follow God’s commands. Nothing is impossible for God!
Assuming they had it in the first place.
well said…but how sad really. What will they say to the Lord when they meet Him?
Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive. That one will never go out of style at the Vatican, as long as those who choose to deceive the flock have positions of importance within its walls. Time to drain the swamp.
Better hedge your bets. I’m Maltese and I am sure this is a sop cum publicity stunt. Intense pressure will be placed on reluctant priests and seminarians to conform to the guidlines or else…especially in Gozo. These two Bishops are playing Bergoglio’s game for their own personal agenda.
THESE FALSE SHEPHERDS KEPT USING THE BAIT & SWITCH FOOTNOTE No. 329 in Amoris Laetitia. They have no fear of God. Amoris Laetitia is a SHAM! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f01324f285bfbac99d06fdd57fb34096f7085d38cc226bd535d795ee28d6b61d.jpg
Scicluna and Grech have forgotten about the day they will face God Almighty to answer for their sins. They are men of the world like Bergoglio
Many years ago communion was taken once a year. Sadly, today the sacrament has become just a part of the mass where few seem to understand what spiritual situation is necessary within ourselves to be able to receive communion. The do gooders are doing their best to harm the souls of those that they are supposed to care for by opening the floodgates to sacrilege.
Please let us use this opportunity to inform the faithful of the correct teaching on Holy Communion for ‘divorced’ and ‘remarried’ Catholics. Please send this beautiful non-polemical video to your Catholic friends who could further catechesis on this subject matter:
https://youtu.be/_yDVRQcR3J4