There once was an old man of Lyme Who married three wives at a time, When asked 'Why a third?' He replied, 'One's absurd! And bigamy, Sir, is a crime!' (William Cosmo Monkhouse. See Amoris Laetitia for details.)
Queeritur: But what about same-sex couples? They cannot have their civil union blessed even in private by a priest because "God does not and cannot bless sin..." Asking for a friend, you understand. CE: Oh shut up, Jimbo. Why do you have to bring everything back to the subject of homosexuality? Which word of "God does not and cannot bless sin" do you find difficult? LGBTSJQ: Beast!
Quaeritur: I am a very high-profile Catholic, founder of the traditionalist blog Five Peter One, which brings me in a small income that helps me maintain my family of thirty-nine children. Admittedly, I haven't been to church since 1981. Today my priest said "I'm sorry, Mr Kojak, we can't marry your same-sex pair of cats in a church. Your blog isn't as spiritually nourishing as Eccles's - I'd happily marry his same-sex pair of cats if he wished me to." Should I sue him? CE: Isn't that the American answer to all problems? Ask Fr Altman if he can help you raise a few million dollars.
The premise: "If memory serves, a Catholic must be in a “state of grace” prior to receiving a holy sacrament. Pity the poor priest who had to hear Boris Johnson’s confession."
ReplyDeleteMy Question: "What would be worse, that BJ faked an insincere confession, or that the Church authorities waived (or ignored) the requirement in his case?"
One response: "I suppose the former for his soul but the latter for the Church. The more one thinks about this the more absurd it becomes. The Church cannot have it both ways. Either Boris is a Catholic (in which case he should have had to repent of his apostasy and return to the Church before being allowed to marry) or he is not (which seems to me the better view) in which case he should not have been granted 2 annulments."
He should also have been confirmed into the Catholic Church before marriage. That is the normal expectation - especially since he was confirmed as an Anglican. Besides the sacramental grace, it would make it clear that he was now a Catholic.
DeleteMr Johnson needed not annulments but a Declaration of Freedom to Marry from the Chancellor, since both his previous marriages lacked canonical form.
Banns evidently were not called, when there was a good case for calling them, in case another love child surfaced!
Westminster diocese has left the millions of Catholics in the UK in the dark. We do not know whether the most high-ranking "Catholic" politician in the country is a confirmed and reconciled Catholic in Eucharistic communion with us, or not.
There was also the danger of sacrilege being committed if a Catholic entered Holy Matrimony without repentance, in a state of grave sin.
We watch aghast as Steve Skojec cracks up completely. So sad, but there's no mystery here. If we read Francis through Benedict, all is a bit clearer. Read Benedict through Francis and you can't go wrong. Read Henry VIII and you get culture wars. Was it ever thus?
ReplyDeleteWish I'd known all this 47 years ago... is it too late to cram in a few divorces? I quite fancy getting re-married in a cathedral...
ReplyDeleteBrilliant.
DeleteI is not a kultur worrier. Only u is a kultur worrier.
ReplyDelete