Remaining in the Truth of Christ: Marriage and Communion in the Catholic Church

by Robert Dodaro

For Contents and Introduction click .

In this volume five cardinals of the Church, and four other scholars, respond to the call issued by Walter Cardinal Kasper for the Church to harmonize "fidelity and mercy in its pastoral practice with civilly remarried, divorced people". The contributors are Walter Cardinal Brandmüller; Raymond Cardinal Burke; Carlo Cardinal Caffarra; Velasio Cardinal De Paolis, C.S.; Robert Dodaro, O.S.A.; Paul Mankowski, S.J.; Gerhard Cardinal Müller; John M. Rist; and Archbishop Cyril Vasil', S.J.

Cardinal Kasper appeals to early Church practice in order to support his view. The contributors bring their wealth of knowledge and expertise to bear upon this question, concluding that the Bible and the Church Fathers do not support the kind of "toleration" of civil marriages following divorce advocated by Cardinal Kasper. They also examine the Eastern Orthodox practice of oikonomia (understood as "mercy" implying "toleration") in cases of remarriage after divorce and in the context of the vexed question of Eucharistic Communion. The book traces the long history of Catholic resistance to this practice, revealing the serious theological and pastoral difficulties it poses in past and current Orthodox Church practice.

As the authors demonstrate, traditional Catholic doctrine, based on the teaching of Jesus himself, and current pastoral practice are not at odds with genuine mercy and compassion. The authentic "gospel of mercy" is available through a closer examination of the Church's teachings.

"Because it is the task of the apostolic ministry to ensure that the Church remains in the truth of Christ and to lead her ever more deeply into that truth, pastors must promote the sense of faith in all the faithful, examine and authoritatively judge the genuineness of its expressions and educate the faithful in an ever more mature evangelical discernment." - St. John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio

Genres: Catholic, Religion, Theology, Marriage, Nonfiction

292 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Conor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and beautiful response to Cardinal Kasper's Gospel of the Family. This book demolishes the arguments put forward by Kasper and his allies.

[booklady]

Read about this in The Disastrous Pontificate: Pope Francis' Rupture from the Magisterium. Had the books intended for the synod members not been waylaid so that recipients didn't receive them until after the session ended, perhaps the excellent information herein might have helped. My copy is on order.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a collection of essays (and Magisterial documents) prepared in order to refute the arguments proposed by, among others, Card. Kasper for the admission to Holy Communion of the divorced and civilly remarried. The essays cover the question of marriage and Holy Communion from many different angles (Biblical, historical, Oriental, canonical, etc.) and how they all point to the fact that current practice is sound, good, and right.

I personally enjoyed the essays by Abp Cyril Vasil' and Card. Burke the most.

[Zachary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant and scholarly overview of the reasons for the Church's practice of declining to extend communion to the civilly recorded and remarried. Some essays are better than others, but each theologian stays within his field of specialization (a patristics scholar, a moral theologian, a canonist,a philosopher, a dogmatic theologian, a social scientist, a scholar of the eastern church, an historian, and a systematic theologian). Combined, they form a thorough picture of the difficulties faced by the so-called Kasper Proposal, and are a great testimony to the intellectual life in the Church.

[Sebastián Camacho Chavarría · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sublime defensa de la verdad de valientes hombres de FE

[Daniel Volpato · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is composed of several essays on the topic of marriage and Holy Communion for civilly remarried people. Sometimes it gets repetitive, due to the contents of the essays overlaying each other. Nevertheless, it is a very nice book, and the arguments favoring the tradicional practice of the Church in regard to Communion are made very clear.

[Jed Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerful remedy for our divorce culture.