Thursday, February 19, 2015

Pope Francis has married clergy "in my agenda"

Details at Rorate.

This is an internal disciplinary issue for the Latin Church and  can mostly be filed under the heading "none of our business." I just hope they don't invoke Orthodox discipline in promotion of a decidedly non-Orthodox innovation as some have with the idea of giving Communion to the divorced and civilly remarried. If I hear one more idiot say that this is what the Orthodox Church does I am likely to respond in a very un-Lenten manner. For clarification, I refer to the fact that we do NOT allow for already ordained priests to marry, and our bishops must be celibate (almost always monastics).

2 comments:

CJ said...

John,

Not to tempt your discipline during the fast, but doesn't the Orthodox church allow remarriage after civil divorce? I get that it's economia, the wedding is a penitential service, etc., but are those couples barred from the chalice?

John (Ad Orientem) said...

Circumstances depending, yes, it is possible. However, the point is that the marriage has to be blessed by the Church. What the RCC is contemplating is communing those who are divorced and remarried civilly. In other words communing those remarried outside the church.

We don't do that.