Over the past decade, we have seen tremendous confusion sprouting about marriage / family / human sexuality. Yet, the constant teaching of Jesus’ Church simply cannot change.
Part 1 reviewed Pope Leo XIII’s Arcanum, Pope Pius XI’s Casti Connubii, and Saint Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, as well as Pope St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body and Familiaris Consortio. In this part I will review John St. Paul II’s Addresses to the Roman Rota (the highest marriage tribunal of the Catholic Church).
As noted in Part 1, Pope St. John Paul II has been called the “Pope of the Family” and clearly articulated the beautiful truth of marriage / family / human sexuality during his long pontificate.
In his addresses to the Roman Rota in 1990, Pope St. John Paul II warned about misguided judgements, reminding all that couples have “the right not to be deceived by a judgment of nullity which is in conflict with the existence of a true marriage.”
In 2006, the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts’ Dignitas Connubii (aka, Instruction to be Observed by Diocesan and Interdiocesan Tribunals in Handling Causes of the Nullity of Marriage) incorporated his Roma Rota guidance to safeguard the integrity of church courts called to decide upon the validity of marriages.
References: (1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 (Italian), 1984 (Italian), 1986, 1987 (Italian), 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005); Dignitas Connubii (1/25/2005)
The Holy Father also addressed the question of whether divorced and remarried people could receive Holy Communion, and the answer was not pleasing to those who wished to compromise on this fundamental teaching of our Faith. Here is the reference:
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church Concerning the Reception of Holy Communion by the Divorced and Remarried Members of the Faithful (9/19/1994)
Though the abundantly clear words of the Church’s “tough love” on these matters have never been abrogated, some seem to mistakenly believe that these loving and pastoral words are not applicable. There appears to be some serious misunderstandings of the difference between authentic pastoral love and sentimentality. Analogously, competent parents know that they must sometimes say “no” to their beloved children.
Finally, Pope St. John Paul II issued an remarkable and perceptive document on marriage preparation which should be required reading for all parents and pastors of souls:
Reference: Pontifical Council for the Family’s Preparation for the Sacrament of Marriage (5/13/1996)
This down to earth document recognizes that groundwork for marriage preparation must begin with “remote preparation” in earliest childhood, followed later by “proximate” and “immediate” stages:
“It is in the family, the domestic church, that Christian parents are the first witnesses and educators of the children both in the growth of ‘faith, hope and charity’, and in each child discovering his or her own vocation.”
During the “proximate” stage, the document addresses instruction in natural family planning (i.e., fertility awareness).
Pope Benedict XVI
In just one line, the pope emeritus summarized all of what I have been trying to say:
“It is…becoming a social and even economic necessity once more to hold up to future generations the beauty of marriage and the family, and the fact that these institutions correspond to the deepest needs and dignity of the person.”
Reference: Pope Benedict XVI’s Deus Caritas Est (12/25/2005)
In his own addresses to the Roman Rota, the pope emeritus followed his predecessor’s cautions and punctuated them even more strongly. References:
Pope Benedict XVI to the Roman Rota (2006 – 2013)
Pastoral sensitivity must be directed to avoiding matrimonial nullity when the couple seeks to marry and to striving to help the spouses solve their possible problems and find the path to reconciliation. (1/28/06)
The conviction that the pastoral good of the person in an irregular marital situation requires a sort of canonical regularization, independently of the validity or nullity of his/her marriage…has also spread in certain ecclesiastical milieus” (1/27/07)
In his last Address to the Rota, my venerable Predecessor John Paul II [stated]….’For a healthy juridical interpretation, it is indispensable to understand the whole body of the Church’s teachings and to place every affirmation systematically in the flow of tradition. It will thus be possible to avoid selective and distorted interpretations and useless criticisms at every step’” (1/26/08)
It is necessary to rediscover the positive capacity that in principle every human person has to marry by virtue of his very nature as man or woman….freedom of human nature, ‘wounded in the natural powers’ and ‘inclined to sin’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 405), is limited and imperfect, but not for this reason does it become inauthentic and insufficient….capacity makes reference to a basic minimum so that the couple can give their being as a male or as a female to establish that bond to which the great majority of human beings are called….real incapacity…is always an exception. (1/29/09)
The valuable work that the Prelate Auditors are called to carry out diligently, in the name and under the mandate of the Apostolic See, is supported by the authoritative and well-established traditions of this Tribunal, which each one of you is bound to respect….The supreme good of readmission to Eucharistic Communion after sacramental Reconciliation demands…that due consideration be given to the authentic good of the individuals, inseparable from the truth of their canonical situation. It would be a false ‘good’ and a grave lack of justice and love to pave the way for them to receive the sacraments nevertheless, and would risk causing them to live in objective contradiction to the truth of their own personal condition….in case of doubt, it [marriage] must be considered valid until the contrary has been proven (cf. CIC, can. 1060). Otherwise, there is a grave risk of losing any objective reference point for pronouncements on nullity. (1/28/10)
The well-known assertion of the Venerable Servant of God, John Paul II, whose opinion was that ‘it is not true that, to be more pastoral, the law should be less juridical’ (cf. Address to the Roman Rota, 18 January 1990, n. 4), expresses the radical surmounting of an apparent antithesis…. incorrect positions still endure, such as that of identifying the discretion of judgement required for the marriage (cf. CIC, can. 1095, n. 2) with the hoped for prudence in the decision to get married, thus confusing an issue of capacity with another which does not undermine the validity since it concerns the level of practical wisdom with which a decision is taken which is, in any case, truly matrimonial. The misunderstanding would be yet more serious were there a wish to assign an invalidating effect to rash decisions made in married life. (1/22/11)
Christian maturity leads one to love the law ever more and want to understand it and to apply it faithfully. (1/21/12)
The indissoluble pact between a man and a woman does not, for the purposes of the sacrament, require of those engaged to be married, their personal faith; what it does require, as a necessary minimal condition, is the intention to do what the Church does. However, if it is important not to confuse the problem of the intention with that of the personal faith of those contracting marriage, it is nonetheless impossible to separate them completely….I certainly do not intend to suggest any facile automatism between the lack of faith and the invalidity of the matrimonial union, but rather to highlight how such a lack may, although not necessarily, also damage the goods of the marriage, since the reference to the natural order desired by God is inherent in the conjugal pact (cf. Gen 2:24). (1/26/13)
Conclusion: Where to go from here?
In the words of Pope Francis, we have been witnessing a “world war” and an attempted “ideological colonization” of marriage / family / human sexuality. From Arcanum to 2013, there were especially clear magisterial teachings on marriage / family / human sexuality. These are treasures which our hierarchy, priests, deacons, and selves need to re-mine.
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