That caput malorum omnium, Germany, has produced another nasty that will take years of effort to clean up, if it can ever be cleaned up.
LifeSite has it. A German bishop, Felix Genn of Münster, published
a guide about the pastoral care for married couples called “I walk with you,” which contains both the German bishops’ statements about Amoris Laetitia and their controversial handout allowing some Protestant spouses of Catholics to receive Holy Communion on a regular basis. Genn states that it is not up to priests to “deny or allow access to the Eucharist.”
As the German bishops’ news website Katholisch.de reported on November 20, Bishop Genn just published his own guide about marriage on his diocesan website. In his comments in the guide concerning Communion for Protestant spouses of Catholics, he makes it clear that “from the beginning, I have supported it [the German bishops’ handout] and…I shall continue to do so.”
While he also admits “full Eucharistic communion is only possible by means of ecclesial communion,” Genn still endorses the idea of giving Holy Communion to some Protestant spouses of Catholics on a regular basis. [No disconnect there!] He comments: “As pastoral caretakers, [Orwellian.] we do not have the right to allow or to deny access to the Eucharist. It is irreconcilable strictly to deny Holy Communion.” [I wonder if he will use that language before the Just Judge.]
In October, another German bishop, Gerhard Fürst of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, [The former diocese of Walter “Accompany Me” Kasper] sent out a letter to his pastoral caretakers in which he instructed them to allow Protestant spouses of Catholics – in individual cases and after a decision of conscience – to receive Holy Communion. In the letter dated October 1, a copy of which LifeSiteNews obtained, he also admits that he knows that Communion for Protestant spouses has already been practiced in his diocese for quite some time, and he adds that those couples still could receive some additional accompaniment. [It’s ongoing, you see. Seemingly forever, since no one has much of a motive to decide what to do.]
At the end of this pastoral process with Protestant spouses, Fürst explains, stands “the individual decision of conscience of the partners of a mixed marriage which, in each case, is to be respected.” The German bishop attached to his letter a flyer containing the essential guidelines for Communion for Protestant spouses, explaining, “I firmly ask you to advertise the possibilities that are to be found in it [the flyer] (conversation, and the possibility to receive Communion after a decision of conscience).”
[…]
A couple of bishops have fought back. But will their efforts be enough?
And where is Rome in all of this?
You know exactly where Rome is in all of this.
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