Philadelphia, Pa., Jun 1, 2016 / 05:20 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia described as “misleading” an article claiming that his leadership of a working group on the Pope’s most recent document “sends a signal” regarding U.S. policy on Communion.
“Our ‘committee’ is very ad hoc and may exist for only three or four months,” Archbishop Chaput told CNA June 1.
“Our goal is to gather what the bishops of the USA are doing and share that information with the other bishops, and then also send a report to Cardinal (Lorenzo) Baldisseri who has asked for reports from the various conferences.”
In a June 1 article, the Catholic Herald reported that Archbishop Chaput had been named chairman of a five-bishop committee that was working on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for a positive reception and implementation of Pope Francis’ recent apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia.
“The news sends a signal on the question of admitting divorced and remarried people to Communion,” the Catholic Herald said, citing instances in which Archbishop Chaput has affirmed Church teaching on the subject.
However, Archbishop Chaput said that the Catholic Herald’s characterization was not entirely accurate.
“There is no policy dimension to what we are doing,” he said. “The bishops in the group are currently the chairmen of various committees and I am the chair-elect of the committee on Laity, Marriage, Family and Youth.”
Amoris Laetitia, released April 8, is the conclusion of a two-year synod process discussing both the beauty and challenges of family life today.
While much of the Western secular media focused its coverage on homosexuality and the question of communion for the divorced-and-remarried, actual topics discussed in the meetings were much broader, with synod fathers touching on themes such as domestic violence, incest and abuse within families, and marriage preparation.
Both of the synods sparked controversy amid speculation over whether there would be a change in the Church’s practice that the divorced-and-remarried may not receive Communion. In accordance with the words of Jesus that “anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery,” the Church says that those living in adultery – or any other unrepentant grave sin – may not receive Communion.
Pope Francis did not make any changes to Church teaching in the document, but one of its chapters – dealing with those in irregular marriage situations – has been the subject of much post-synod debate.
Vague language in the chapter has allowed a variety of interpretations. Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, maintains that it does not change the Church's discipline on admission of the divorced-and-remarried to Communion.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, on the other hand, has said it “opened a door” to admitting the divorced-and-remarried to Communion, and that the document marks the “turning of a page” in the Church's history “after 1,700 years.”
However, the matter was dealt with explicitly by St. John Paul II, who wrote that “the Church reaffirms her practice, which is based upon Sacred Scripture, of not admitting to Eucharistic Communion divorced persons who have remarried. They are unable to be admitted thereto from the fact that their state and condition of life objectively contradict that union of love between Christ and the Church which is signified and effected by the Eucharist.”
Article Archive
Archbishop Chaput clarifies 'Amoris Laetitia' committee
Related Articles • More Articles
Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski of Krakow announced on April 14, 2024, the decision to begin the process of beatification and canonization of Helena Agnieszka Kmiec, a young lay missionary murdered in Bolivia in 2017. / Credit: The Helena Kmiec FoundationACI Prensa Staff, Apr 19, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski of Krakow, Poland, announced the decision to begin the process of beatification and canonization of Helena Agnieszka Kmiec, a young lay missionary murdered in Bolivia in 2017.The prelate said that after the preliminary phase began in December 2022, he made the decision to officially open the process for Kmiec after having consulted the Polish Bishops' Conference and receiving the go-ahead from the Vatican's Dicastery for the Causes of Saints."With this edict I call on all those who have any document, letter, or information about the Servant of God, both positive and negative, to send them to the Metropolitan Curia of Krakow before June 30," the archbish...
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee speaks during the signing of the ELVIS Act to Protect Voice & Likeness in Age of AI event at Robert's Western World on March 21, 2024, in Nashville, Tennessee. / Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Human Artistry CampaignWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 18, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).The first English-language translation of the Bible in the United States will become an "official state book" in Tennessee on July 1.Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, signed a bill on Tuesday that names the Aitken Bible and nine other texts as official state books in the Tennessee Blue Book (an official manual on the state government). This is the first time Tennessee has formally recognized any official state books.The Bible translation was published by Philadelphia printer Robert Aitken in 1782 and received an official endorsement from Congress. The American Revolution, which began in 1776, halted trade with Great Britain and cut off the supply of Bibles, which prompte...
Cardinal Wilton Gregory speaks at an interview in Rome on April 11, 2024. / Credit: "EWTN News Nightly" screen shotRome Newsroom, Apr 18, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).As the Catholic Church's first African American cardinal was honored at a U.S. seminary in Rome, he recalled the legacy of faith and perseverance of Black Catholics in America, including at a time when they were not accepted by U.S. seminaries. Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, received this year's Rector's Award at an April 11 banquet at the Pontifical North American College, where seminarians from across 99 dioceses in the U.S. live while studying for the priesthood in Rome.In an interview with CNA before the award ceremony, Gregory pointed out that in the 19th century, African Americans who had a vocation to the priesthood were sent to study in Rome and then to serve as missionaries in Africa because at the time they were not allowed to enter U.S. seminaries."Being in Rome reminds me also tha...