Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/779073
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 29 JANUARY 2017 10 MATTHEW VELLA A furious reaction has been aroused as critics of Pope Francis's Amoris Laetitia have balked at the way Malta's bishops suggested that divorcees and remarried Catho- lics can assess for themselves their readiness to receive holy commun- ion. Catholic observers around the world were stunned at the word- ing of the bishops' guidelines, in which they said that divorced and civilly remarried Catholics could receive the sacraments if, with "an informed and enlightened con- science" they believe they're at peace with God. Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Gozo bishop Mario Grech's guide- lines on Amoris – which critics already say has put Church teach- ing on shaky grounds – say priests cannot exclude people from ac- cessing the sacraments if in good conscience, they believe they are entitled to Communion. This 'subjective turn' has wor- ried both canonists and cardinals, as well as traditionalists who last week took out a full-page advert in The Times to tell Scicluna and Grech they had gone overboard. To progressive Catholics and those outside looking in, the guide- lines are welcome, because they ex- hort priests to meet persons in "ir- regular" situations and who show a "genuine desire [for] a serious pro- cess of personal discernment about their situation", to assist them in this jour- ney. Scicluna and Grech have told priests they must always affirm church teaching on the indissolubility of mar- riage as a first step, and consider whether the first union was a valid marriage to pave the way for a decla- ration of nullity. But interpretations of Amoris Laetitia's Chapter 8, which focuses on couples in irregular situations, have been varied. Bish- ops of Poland have issued criteria of their own which contradict the Maltese criteria, a situation which – Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith writes in The Catholic Herald – has made it "harder to argue the truth of Catholicity to a non-Catholic, and… harder for Catholics in the Church such as myself to be- lieve in Catholicity. Frank- ly, I am struggling here to see how the faith as proclaimed in Krakow is the same faith as that proclaimed in Victoria, Gozo." Lucie-Smith, a doctor of moral theology, says that the Maltese criteria make explicit something that is only hinted at in Amoris. By welcoming the divorced to partake of the sacrament, the bishops are going against St John Paul II's strict Familiaris Con- sortio, a 1981 teaching that rejects the ac- ceptability of remar- riage and alternatives like civil marriages. What is Amoris? Doctrinally, Amoris re- affirms Catholic teaching on marriage indissolubil- ity. Chapter 8 states that "any breach of the mar- riage bond is against the will of God." Nor does it question official church teaching such as Canon 915, which instructs priests that people "obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin" cannot receive holy communion. Instead it seeks to foster a new attitude towards divorcees, by as- sisting them in seeking integration into the Church instead of shutting the door on them and shun- ning them. St John Paul II was stricter in 1981's Familiaris, written at a time when divorce was not common amongst Catholics, who were told that divorced and civilly remarried peo- ple had "broken the sign of the Covenant and of Fidelity to Christ" and therefore could not re- ceive the sacraments un- til they repent by return- ing to the first union. Amoris reflects life in 2017, where divorced Catholics are more numerous, and Catholics in ir- regular families more accepted. "Amorislooks at a wounded flock, and looks for ways of bandaging wounds and restoring the sheep to health. It recognizes that even when people have fallen short, grace remains operative; and that not all real-world situations of di- vorce and remarriage are straight- forwardly cases of adultery," writes British journalist Austen Ivereigh. But kind words are not in abun- dance. Across the pond, the con- servative National Catholic Reg- ister offers a more conspiratorial tone to proceedings, with journal- ist Edward Pentin suggesting that Gozo bishop Mario Grech – who News From traditionalists to canonists and cardinals, Malta's bishops dropped jaws with an interpretation of Francis's call to priests to open the door to divorced Catholics Maltese bishops shock as critics warn of 'meltdown' over teaching on divorcees Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith Opening the doors to the Catholic Church: Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Gozo bishop Mario Grech say divorced Catholics at peace with God should be given Holy Communion Edward Pentin Spiritual and political leaders. Archbishop Charles Scicluna has been a strong critic of Labour's reforms, but some critics complained to the New Catholic Register that Gozo bishop Mario Grech has changed his stance since Labour's election in 2013 "I am struggling here to see how the faith as proclaimed in Krakow is the same faith as that proclaimed in Victoria, Gozo."