The Gospel of the Family: Going Beyond Cardinal Kasper's Proposal in the Debate on Marriage, Civil Re-Marriage and Communion in the Church by Stephan Kampowski & Juan José Pérez-Soba

Author:Stephan Kampowski & Juan José Pérez-Soba [Kampowski, Stephan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Spiritual & Religion
ISBN: 9781586179946
Published: 2014-10-13T04:00:00+00:00

5

A Pastoral Ministry of Mercy:

Living the Truth in Charity

“Today, the theological and canonical debate seems rarefied. Generally speaking, the number of formally established marriages has diminished; so has the number of sacramental marriages. Those in the typical situation of the pastoral problem of divorced-and-remarried Catholics. . . seem to accept more and more the forms of structured welcome that the Church throughout the world is organizing and conducting.”1 This description of the situation is the work of one of the authors most in favor of offering Holy Communion to the divorced and remarried, on one simple condition: that the previous marriage be declared irremediably failed. He observes, moreover, that this is a less urgent pastoral issue than several years ago, and that the change in trend that emerges from a series of sociological studies shows the extent of cohabitation without any type of bond.2 It is increasingly obvious that divorced people do not remarry. The more serious pastoral problem is therefore quite different and is reflected in the evident decrease in the percentage of the population that is married in the Western world.3

Consequently, in the present situation it does not seem appropriate, much less prudent, to focus on the issue of the divorced and remarried, since that does not spring from an authentic pastoral vision. The problems of the family are manifold and diverse; an awareness of the necessity to be close to those in need so as to offer them effective help prompts us to adopt a pastoral approach of “accompaniment”. Unfortunately, though, we must point out that the current pastoral structures in most parts of the Church are based more on organizing activities or dictating pastoral norms than on accompanying persons. The pastoral effort required of us today by the reality of families is greater than the effort that might be demanded by one specific problem, and it is connected with the profound mercy that Christ holds in his heart. The lack of this universal pastoral vision is the greatest defect in Cardinal Kasper’s address. The Cardinal mentions several obvious questions without proposing anything on this subject, as though it were of little importance or, at least, not worth mentioning.4 What he acknowledges is undeniable:

One may not reduce the problem to the question of admission to communion. It touches upon pastoral care for marriage and family life in their totality. It begins already with pastoral care for youth and with marriage preparation, which should be a thorough catechesis for marriage and family life. The task continues with the pastoral accompaniment of married couples and families. It becomes relevant and immediate when a marriage or a family is plunged into a crisis. In this situation, pastoral ministers will do everything possible to contribute to healing and reconciling the marriage and the family that has fallen into crisis.5

In the Italian edition, Cardinal Kasper’s text continues: “Pastoral care does not end after the failure of a marriage; pastors must stay close to the divorced and invite them to participate in the life of the Church.

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