Once again, I have to state that this blog site is dedicated to catechesis in the Catholic Faith. However, at times I reserve the right to comment on certain topics that may negatively affect the Catholic Church, and her Sacred Doctrine as a whole. Let us be very blunt, marriage, family and the Sacraments are under vicious attack from some of those within the Church herself. I cannot pretend that this is not happening when we have an entire Bishops Conference, from Germany “pastorally” separating itself from Rome. This is one of the rotten fruits of “collegiality”.
This unofficial schism of the German Bishops is just the beginning, and it has everything to do with mammon, not souls. The German Bishops conference is willing to compromise with the world at the expense of persons salvation. The German Bishops are united in wanting to change Church teaching that cannot be changed. But, they ” feel ” it can be changed. They want to find a compromise. They want to wheel and deal at the expense of a persons salvation. They want our Holy Father to co-sign their heresy, period. We need to pray for our Holy Father and the Church as a whole more than ever during this lent. May we pray and fast for our Beautiful Catholic Church and Her true pastors. This one is a little harder, however, we should also pray for those German Bishops that wish to separate from the ” constant and very firm teaching ” of the Church. Beware of the wolves dressed as sheep, even more, beware of wolves dressed as shepherds! Now, I also have to state that their are some Bishops, of German descent, that are remaining true to Christ and His teachings such as His Eminence Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Mueller and His Eminence Walter Cardinal Brandmuller. These two faithful Bishops each wrote a chapter in the book Remaining in the Truth of Christ by Ignatius Press. You may have read about this book recently. This is the same book that was reportedly confiscated and blocked from reaching the Bishops before the synod started. You can read about this fiasco and deceit here . About this book, Remaining in the Truth of Christ. I have to say that I found it an excellent read. This book leaves no question at all, about Marriage , the Sacraments, family and the duty and obligation of the Bishops to guard and protect these precious Truths from error. You can purchase this book at Branches Catholic Bookstore here in the Niagara Region or from Ignatius Press. I always go to my local Catholic bookstore first. I know for a fact that Branches has a few copies of this wonderful book, that all should read. Also, His Eminence Cardinal Burke also wrote a masterful chapter in the book, Remaining in the Truth of Christ. Now, a little short catechesis on Marriage by His Eminence Cardinal George Pell – this excerpt is borrowed from the Catholic Thing :
Interestingly, Jesus’ hard teaching that “what therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder” (Mt 19:6) follows not long after his insistence to Peter on the necessity of forgiveness (see Mt 18:21–35).
It is true that Jesus did not condemn the adulterous woman who was threatened with death by stoning, but he did not tell her to keep up her good work, to continue unchanged in her ways. He told her to sin no more (see Jn 8:1–11).
One insurmountable barrier for those advocating a new doctrinal and pastoral discipline for the reception of Holy Communion is the almost complete unanimity of two thousand years of Catholic history on this point. It is true that the Orthodox have a long-standing but different tradition, forced on them originally by their Byzantine emperors, but this has never been the Catholic practice.
One might claim that the penitential disciplines in the early centuries before the Council of Nicaea were too fierce as they argued whether those guilty of murder, adultery, or apostasy could be reconciled by the Church to their local communities only once—or not at all. They always acknowledged that God could forgive, even when the Church’s ability to readmit sinners to the community was limited.
Such severity was the norm at a time when the Church was expanding in numbers, despite persecution. It can no more be ignored than the teachings of the Council of Trent or those of Saint John Paul II or Pope Benedict XVI on marriage can be ignored. Were the decisions that followed Henry VIII’s divorce totally unnecessary
