A controversy of great magnitude is raging in the Catholic
universe right now. It centres around the papal document Amoris Laetitia and threatens even to create a schism in the
Catholic Church. I contend that widespread neglect of the traditional doctrine
and discipline of the Church since Vatican II has paved the way for this crisis
and, for decades, nowhere has this been more illustrative than in the refusal
of Bishops to discipline pro-abortion public sinners, especially
politicians. I would go so far as to suggest that this long term failure by
Bishops has created a laissez faire environment and actually set the stage for
the attack upon marriage and the family which we are currently witnessing.
Either Canon 915 is to
be taken seriously
since it governs the worst forms of abuses of the Holy Eucharist or, if not, the
Eucharist is not what Catholic teaching claims; in which case the entire doctrinal
structure of the Church collapses.
Clearly, Dr. Edward Peters sees the situation in a similar
light and is sounding the warning by pointing to the divine law roots of Canon
915. Here is the introductory paragraph from his post of today’s date.
For several years I and others have argued that the question of
admitting divorced-and-remarried Catholics to holy Communion turns primarily
on Canon 915 (which
norm, against a backdrop of canons protecting the right of the faithful to
access the sacraments, sets out a minister’s duty to refuse holy Communion
under certain conditions). Asserting the importance of Canon 915 in this Communion
discussion, however, has been an uphill battle as virtually none of the
official documents central to this debate—including Amoris
laetitia,the
Buenos Aires letter, the
Maltese directives, the
German episcopal conference document, and several others—so much as
mentions Canon 915, let alone do they recognize that this canon directly
regulates the sacramental disciplinary question at hand.
The full posting is here.
It deserves a full reading.
Unless the laity rises up—speedily—and demands unreserved fidelity
from their priests and Bishops, we are approaching a meltdown, at least in
practical terms, of the One True Church of Jesus Christ. God help us, we are in an abyss!
