Pope Confuses Marriage With Cohabitation

Yesterday at a pastoral conference on the family, the pope made remarks that can only be called "ridiculous" at best.  More accurately, they are quite scandalous coming from a Vicar of Christ.  One one hand he said that the "great majority of Catholic marriages are null", and on the other hand, that some cohabitation situations are "real marriage, they have the grace of a real marriage because of their fidelity."

He urged priests not to tell cohabitating couples to marry, but "to accompany, to wait".  However, such "waiting" would constitute formal and material cooperation with mortal sin.  There is no way on God's green earth that they have "the grace of a real marriage".  Mortal sin drives away grace, and such situations are a twisted caricature of real marriage.

As for this business of most Catholic marriages being null, he thinks that the majority of people don't understand what real marriage is.  Must spouses obtain advanced degrees in theology to have a modicum of knowledge as to what constitutes real marriage?  I believe the vows have always been pronounced in the vernacular.  What is so confusing about the language of the marriage vows?  Is the pope so condescending to people that he doesn't think they comprehend the vocabulary and language that they regularly use?

As Damian Thompson of England's Spectator points out, the pope just told millions of Catholics that they aren't validly married.  What kind of signal does this send to those who may well be struggling with their marriage commitments?   Rorate Caeli today published the first part of their analysis regarding these heresies and how they dovetail with Amoralis Lamentia.

Here's a question that needs to be addressed.  If the pope thinks the majority of Catholic marriages are null, what does that say about the children born of these alleged "pseudo-marriages"?  Are they bastards in the pope's eyes?

In this "marriage versus cohabitation" discussion, the pope essentially called the good "bad" and the bad "good".  I cannot divine his intentions for making these wild statements, and quite frankly, his intentions are irrelevant.  The harm to souls that will result from yesterday's terrible statements cannot be underestimated.  Again, we must pray but we must also speak out.

The Multi-Marriage Ceremony - Obfuscation Of The Issue Of Sacrilege

Yesterday Catholic News Agency posted a piece by Kevin Jones and Ann Schneible entitled "No Scandal Here: How The 20 Couples Married By Pope Francis Were Legit".  Right there in the title can be seen a hint of the problem.  In all the reading I've done on this matter, I don't recall anyone casting doubt on the canonical legitimacy of what happened this past Sunday at St. Peter's Bascilica.

Possible sacrilege is another matter - one that is receiving too little attention.  The Sacrament of Matrimony, being a sacrament of the living, must be received in a state of sanctifying grace.  Else sacrilege will occur.  All reports indicate that at least a few couples were "CURRENTLY cohabitating": not "WERE cohabitating" but "CURRENTLY".

Now bear in mind these couples were selected by the Vatican for this Sunday ceremony.  Why were "CURRENTLY cohabitating" couples selected?  I asked a number of questions in a post Friday that I won't rehash here; please read the post and "Leon's" comment.  That comment is most telling in terms of marriage preparation in US parishes at least.  In a post on Saturday, I tried to reply to Leon as well as rehearse the preparation for my own First Confession.  I used those Baltimore Catechism questions to illustrate concerns as to whether those 20 couples were given ample time and teaching to avail themselves of that Sacrament, and to understand why fornication is mortally sinful.

Let's move back to the CNA article.  John Grabowski, a theology professor at Catholic University of America, had this to say about the Holy Father's approach: "What he wants to do is simply put the Church’s focus on mercy, on an encounter with Christ as the heart of its life."

"Put the Church's focus on mercy"??!?!  Odd!  Since when has the Church not focused on mercy?  No need to put focus on something if that focus is already there (and has been for two thousand years).  I will now link to an excellent piece written by Msgr Charles Pope (ht LifeSiteNews) regarding the mortal sin of fornication, which would have been the sin of those cohabitating.  One sentence is key, with this "focus on mercy".  It is "Mercy is accessed only by repentance".  It's toward the end of the article but the rest is very worthwhile.  If we're really going to "focus on mercy" there must be focus on the Sacrament of Confession, for only therein is forgiveness for mortal sin.

As I said in one of the previous posts, I know priests who make plain in their bulletins that any couples seeking marriage in their churches while living together will be required to separate.  Will the efforts of these good priests now be undermined by what happened Sunday?  While I hope not, I think so.

More On Today's Multi-Marriage Ceremony

BBC News did a little piece on the ceremony at St Peter's Basilica earlier today.  Naturally it had a nice leftist twist to it.  I await the full text.  Meanwhile I'll comment (in red) on the snippets that BBC did see fit to publish.

Sunday's ceremony at St Peter's Basilica in Rome comes three weeks before a meeting of Catholic bishops from around the world to examine church teachings on family matters.  A mere three weeks!  How about that?  Coincidence?

Very slowly, the church under the guidance of Pope Francis is facing the fact that many Catholic couples cohabit before marriage, use contraception freely and divorce and remarry without seeking an annulment, says the BBC's David Willey in Rome.  Mr. Willey, the Church has always been aware of these matters.  The Church has been around much longer than you or I have been alive, and has been dealing with these matters regularly during these past 2000 years.  Mr. Willey, these "facts" as you call them are sins.  Got that?  They are transgressions against God's laws and they always will be sins, and will be treated accordingly.

He (the Pope) said in his homily that families are bricks that build society, but also believes that the church should forgive those who have sex outside marriage or who don't obey church teaching to the letter.  Well, the Church does forgive such sins and has been doing so these past 2000 years - in the Sacrament of Confession.  But they must be sacramentally confessed for they are mortal sins.  That's why I went into such a long discussion about the Sacrament yesterday.  

As I said, I'd love to see the full transcript of today's nuptial homily.  No doubt some important details were omitted (inadvertently, of course).

Cohabitating Couples And The Sacrament of Confession

Earlier today Leon posted a comment to my post about the wedding of cohabitating couples.  Please note that he says that he, his wife and (I assume) other couples confessed right before their wedding ceremonies.  This raises a whole bevy of questions.   Let me preface these questions with some important clarifications.  As I ask questions and make remarks, I do not intend these to be construed as criticism of Leon and his friends.  I've no doubt that the actions they took were taken in good-faith compliance with their priests and marriage-prep instructors.  I suspect Leon and his friends were merely victims of poor catechesis resulting from the erroneous "spirit of Vatican II".  For that matter, their priests and marriage-prep instructors may well have been robbed of their proper Catholic formation by that same "spirit of Vatican II".  I know I was in my latter years of school.  Fortunately my sacramental preparation wasn't so corroded, as we used the Baltimore Catechism.  I'll be referring to that catechism later.  Now the questions arising from Leon's comment.

• Why "right before"?  Why were they not advised to take advantage of that sacrament at earlier times during their course?
• Were the cohabitating couples ever advised that they should separate (that is, cease fornication) during the course of their marriage preparation      
• If they were urged to confess, were they urged to confess the mortal sin of fornication?  Were they even taught why fornication is a mortal sin?

I suppose that list of questions could go into infinity, but I'll stop here.  As I said in the last post, no sacramental grace (including from matrimony) can accrue to those in a state of mortal sin unless one receives the Sacrament of Confession.  The fact that Confession in Leon's case seems to have been delayed until the eve of the wedding makes me wonder if that sacrament is being misunderstood, and to such an extent as to compromise the efficacy of that Sacrament.  As I said, I'll be trotting out the Baltimore Catechism (used to prepare me for my first confession).

Here is Question 384: What must we do to receive the Sacrament of Penance worthily?  To receive the Sacrament of Penance worthily we must:
       first, examine our conscience
       second, be sorry for our sins (contrition)
       third, have the firm purpose of not sinning again
       fourth, confess our sins to the priest
       fifth, be willing to perform the penance the priest gives us

If Confession really occurs on the eve of the wedding, how does that allow for a proper examination of conscience and, more telling, testing of the purpose of not committing fornication again?

Let's look at several other questions in succession, and I'll put comments in red.

Question 388: What is contrition? Contrition is sincere sorrow for having offended God, and hatred for the sins we have committed, with a firm purpose of sinning no more.  Under the scenario that Leon described, was a hatred for the mortal sin of fornication properly instilled in the marriage prep attendees?

Question 389: Will God forgive us any sin unless we have true contrition for it?  God will not forgive us any sin, whether mortal or venial, unless we have true contrition for it.  Unless that hatred of fornication has been instilled, there is no forgiveness of that mortal sin.  How can this be interpreted otherwise?

Question 390: When is sorrow for sin true contrition?  Sorrow for sin is true contrition when it is interior, supernatural, supreme and universal.

Question 391: When is our sorrow interior?  Our sorrow is interior when it comes from our heart and not merely from our lips.  So how are currently-cohabitating couples being taught to have interior sorrow?

Question 392: When is our sorrow supernatural?  Our sorrow is supernatural when, with the help of God's grace, it arises from motives which spring from faith and not merely from natural motives.  The natural motives in the case of marriage preparation might include "discharging the formality of confession" as though it was just another item on the "punch list" of things to do before the wedding.

As I pointed out in the previous post, if couples have been committing the mortal sin of fornication, they need to receive the Sacrament of Penance worthily before they can properly receive the Sacrament of Matrimony.  I recited and commented on the Baltimore Catechism questions to illustrate why I think it's highly unlikely that Leon and his friends were properly prepared to receive either Penance or Matrimony.  I have good reason to believe this scenario is repeated in parishes throughout the world.  Are the twenty couples being married tomorrow also victims of ill-considered marriage preparation?

The divorce rate for Catholics is roughly on a par with that of non-Catholic couples; that's indicative that God's laws about marriage and sexuality are not being taken seriously, assuming they are known at all.  I realize a good deal of Catholic education is below par, but in this day of the internet, there is no excuse for not filling in the gaps of our own education.

If the couples whom the Pope will marry tomorrow have indeed been properly instructed, I ask why the new article (particularly from Catholic sources) did not make that clear.  The lack of such mention leaves too much room for ambiguity and even scandal.

Pope To Marry Cohabitating Couples? Really??

I know of a pastor who places in his bulletin a requirement for engaged couples going through his marriage prep program.  He requires that if they are cohabiting, that they live separately until their wedding day.  Why?  In his words, "it is sinful, causes scandal, and leads to greater likelihood of divorce".  Of course he's spot-on correct.

Here's another consideration.  Since fornication is objectively a mortal sin, would that not mean that at least some of these cohabitating people have mortally sinned?  Some, out of ignorance of Church teaching, may not be fully culpable, I realize.  But for those in the state of mortal sin, it is my understanding that no grace from any other sacrament will be of benefit to them until their mortal sin is absolved in the Sacrament of Confession.  Would that not include grace from the Sacrament of Matrimony?

The internet is now carrying the news that Pope Francis will marry twenty couples this coming Sunday including "those who are already cohabitating".  That is troubling.  It doesn't say "those who had been cohabitating".  The Telegraph speaks in present tense, not in past tense.

I suppose by now these couples have already been selected.  Have they been required to cease their mortal sin?  Have they been required to confess their mortal sins of fornication and receive absolution from a priest?  If not, they'll most likely not receive the sacramental grace that otherwise they might anticipate from Matrimony.  Moreover, they'll most likely receive Holy Communion at these weddings while in mortal sin, right?  That sounds like two sets of sacrilege right there!

As I read this article, I see no sign of these couples righting their relationships with God and the Church.  I hope I'm wrong in this, but if not, we're looking at scandal of breath-taking proportions with the potential of poor souls careening to hell due to bad example and poor teaching.

Pope Instructs Marriage Prep Programs To Correct Cohabitation

During the Ad Limina visits with the US bishops, the Holy Father broached the marriage preparation programs in the American dioceses.   He said the bishops must recognize the "deficiencies" in the presentation of the Church's teachings during the past several decades and called for concentration on "“the serious pastoral problem presented by the widespread practice of cohabitation, often by couples who seem unaware that it is gravely sinful, not to mention damaging to the stability of society."  Read the whole article in Lifesite News.

Those of you who teach/administer the marriage prep courses, how many of you have taken notice that during course registrations, many of the engaged couples indicate that they are living at the same address?  I know in some parishes in this diocese, these "same-address" situations, in other words, co-habitating situations, are as high as 80% of the class attendees.  I also know that you don't utter a peep.  By not doing so, you are doing them no favors, as you, by their silence, confirm them in objective mortal sin.  I said "objective" because by virtue of the terrible catechesis they've received (and continue to receive from you), their culpability may be lessened (but not entirely eliminated, for there must be that unease in their consciences that lets them know that something is amiss).  You do them no favors by your silence!  Because of their ongoing mortal sin, they will receive no sacramental grace from the Sacrament of Matrimony for which they are preparing.  That may well be a key factor why the greater percentage of these cohabiting couples will find themselves in divorce court.

I am happily aware of one parish in which engaged couples are required, if cohabiting, to separate until they are married if they want to complete that parish's marriage prep course.  This should be the rule, not the exception.  I hope and pray that with the Holy Father's clear exhortation, such will become more prevalent.