wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Bishops affirm priestly celibacy,

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8986 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05574
Oct. 25, 2005

Convening bishops affirm priestly celibacy,
denial of Communion to remarried Catholics 

by Stacy Meichtry
Religion News Service
    
VATICAN CITY - As more than 250 bishops filed into St. Peter's Square for an
Oct. 23 Mass concluding the first synod of Benedict XVI's papacy, there were
few signs of the lively debate with which the assembly opened.
    
	After weeks of soul-searching about concerns topped by the church's
shortage of priests and the sacramental status of remarried Catholics, the
bishops came full circle - reaffirming traditional teaching, based on
Christ's example, as the best answer to the challenges of modernity.
    
	"The synodal work allowed us to deepen the salient aspects of this
mystery, given to the church from the beginning," Benedict told the assembled
bishops. "How can we not take up, once again, the invitation by the beloved
Pope John Paul II to 'start again from Christ'?"
    
	When the worldwide bishops' gathering opened, on Oct. 2, bishops
jockeyed to set the synod agenda and test the flexibility of their freshman
pontiff. The bishops were invited only to advise the pope; they were not
authorized to set policy.

	Issues often ducked during John Paul's 26-year reign took center
stage as bishops pondered the possibility of introducing exemplary married
men - "viri probati" in Latin - into the priesthood as a means of stemming
the priest shortage. One bishop even challenged the theological validity of
the priesthood's celibacy requirement.
    
	During the Sunday Mass, Benedict offered a clear reaffirmation of
traditional church teaching.
    
	Priestly celibacy is "a precious gift and the sign of the undivided
love towards God," he said, linking the practice of celibacy to the
Eucharist, the sacrament that was the synod's official theme.
    
	At the outset, bishops from some of the world's priest-poor regions
noted that the shortage undercut their ability to distribute the Eucharist.
Bishop Roberto Camilleri Azzopardi of Comayaga, Honduras, said he has one
priest for every 16,000 Catholics in his diocese.
    
	According to Catholic belief, only priests can consecrate the
Eucharist, transforming it into the blood and body of Jesus Christ.
    
	Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle of Imus, Philippines, reported that in 40
of the 60 parishes he oversees, lay people regularly distribute Communion in
the absence of priests 3/4 a fact that he said diminishes the sacramental
value of the Eucharist.
    
	"In the absence of the priest, there is no Eucharist," Tagle said
during a press conference at the start of the synod. "We should face squarely
the issue of the shortage of priests."

	But in the end, the bishops were not ready to do anything dramatic at
the synod, which convenes every other year. As an advisory body, the synod
prepared a list of 50 propositions that were presented to the pope on
Saturday. The list was not released to the public, but Religion News Service
obtained a copy.
    
	The pope is expected to consider the suggestions, and then, if he
chooses, give an official response in an "apostolic exhortation," which
generally is released a few weeks after the synod ends.
    
	One proposition presented Saturday acknowledges "the acute pain that
is felt over the lack of priests in some parts of the world," and notes,
"Many faithful are deprived of the Bread of Life."
    
	The bishops did not propose any policy changes. Their synod-ending
document underscores the need to "sensitize families" that are "indifferent
if not contrary" to letting their sons enter the priesthood. It also calls
for a "more equal distribution of priests" throughout the world, an idea that
at least some bishops regard as a short-term measure that wouldn't solve the
problem.

	During a press conference on Saturday, George Pell of Sydney,
Australia, described the synod as a "massive endorsement" of priestly
celibacy.
    
	"When you have a synod backing this discipline of the Latin church in
such a nearly unanimous way, that's not unimportant," he said.
	  
	The proposals dampened hopes that divorced and remarried Catholics
might be readmitted to Communion. Archbishop John Atcherley of Wellington,
New Zealand, had suggested the church ought to rethink its ban. In the end,
however, the bishops backed the church teaching that forbids remarried
couples from taking Communion, on the grounds that their sexual relations are
sinful.
    
	"According to the tradition of the Catholic Church, they cannot be
admitted to Communion, finding themselves in conditions of objective contrast
with the Word of the Lord," the bishops wrote.

	The proposal encouraged remarried couples to abstain from sex and to
maintain "a loyal and trustworthy friendship," in accordance with church
teaching.
    
	Although these affirmations will disappoint many liberal Catholics,
the synod's support for the status quo also left many conservatives
unsatisfied.

	Vatican cardinals who had pushed for a crackdown on politicians who
stray from Catholic morality succeeded in having the issue addressed at
length.
    
	"Politicians and legislators must feel themselves particularly moved
in their conscience ... about the grave social responsibility of presenting
and supporting iniquitous laws," the proposal read. But it did not recommend
the adoption of worldwide norms, as Vatican Cardinals Julian Herranz and
Alfonso Lopez Trujillo had suggested in speeches on the synod floor.
    
	The question of whether wayward politicians should receive Communion,
the bishops said, should be left to the individual discretion of bishops who
"should exercise the virtues of firmness and prudence, taking account of
concrete local situations."
    
	The Communion parameters produced a moment of tension during a press
conference on Saturday when an Italian reporter asked Archbishop Rino
Fisichella, chaplain to Italy's Parliament, whether he would deny Communion
to Pier Ferdinando Casini, a divorced man who is speaker of the lower house
and a leader of the center-right Christian Democratic party.
    
	Fisichella replied testily that Casini "knows well the rules of the
church, and does not present himself for Communion."

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