The dangerous pressure for change in Church teaching on divorce and remarriage

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Feb 24, 2014

As the October meeting of the Synod of Bishops draws near, we’ll hear more and more about one question: Whether Catholics who are divorced and remarried should be allowed to receive the Eucharist. Clearly this is the question on the minds of reporters, the question being posed by liberal bishops, the question that agitates Catholics especially in the German-speaking countries.

But this is not the question being asked by Pope Francis, or the question that was asked by Pope Benedict before him. Both Pontiffs spoke about the need to provide pastoral care for Catholics in these irregular unions. They both mentioned the possibility that some marriages should be annulled, and the process of annulment might be changed. But they did not talk about changing the perennial teaching of the Church.

Writing in the Boston Globe, John Allen suggests that the question might do for Pope Francis what Humanae Vitae did for Pope Paul VI. As he explains, in 1968 there were high expectations that the Pope would change Church teaching to allow the use of contraceptives. When his encyclical reaffirmed what the Church has always taught, Pope Paul dashed those expectations, liberal Catholics felt that they had been betrayed, and the Pope’s popularity (which, to be honest, had never been terribly high) plummeted. Now in 2014 there are high expectations that Pope Francis will change Church teaching, yet it seems highly unlikely that he would—or could—do so. The Church’s teaching on the indissolubility of marriage is not really open to question at all; it is based on the very clear words of Jesus Christ. Because of his phenomenal popularity, Allen argues, Pope Francis is “probably in a better position to deliver what some people are likely to perceive as bad news.” Still, the news will come as a shock. The media will be jolted out of the foolish belief that Pope Francis will change all the rules. The popular narrative about this pontificate will be changed dramatically.

Until that news comes, however, we’re likely to hear more speculation about the possibility of a change. On his canon law blog, Edward Peters remarks that this speculation can do some real damage to the spiritual welfare of Catholics who are caught up in the expectation of a major change. Some people are being led to believe that change is inevitable; a few apparently think that the change in teaching has already taken place. It’s not just the teaching authority of the Church that’s being damaged by all the loose talk; it’s also the welfare of souls.

Theologians can debate about new ways to interpret the Church’s teaching, but it’s healthier for everyone concerned if they conduct those debates in their own professional journals, rather than in newspaper interviews. Canon lawyers can talk about altered annulment procedures, and there are realistic possibilities for change in that regard, as Pope Benedict suggested. (Easier access to annulments probably would not make an enormous difference in the US, however, since in this country annulments are already so very easy to obtain.) But the Church is not going to alter the Gospel, Pope Francis is not going to contradict Jesus, and those who suggest otherwise—perhaps in a misguided effort to increase the pressure for change—aren’t doing anyone any favors.