Cardinal Müller, German bishops clash on interpretation of Amoris Laetitia

February 01, 2017

The Vatican’s top doctrinal official has said that “Amoris Laetitia must clearly be interpreted in the light of the whole doctrine of the Church,” and reiterated the Church’s constant teaching on divorce and remarriage.

However, the German bishops’ confererence has issued a contrasting statement, saying that Catholics who are divorced and remarried may receive Communion in some cases.

Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told the Italian journal Il Timone that the teaching of St. John Paul II remains in force today, and Catholics who are divorced and remarried may be admitted to Communion only if they are living “in complete continence.” He stressed that when Pope John Paul II voiced his teaching, he was expressing not only his own stand by “an essential element of Christian moral theology.”

The interview with Cardinal Müller appeared just as the permanent council of the German bishops’ conference issued its own document on Amoris Laetitia, saying that in that document Pope Francis had cleared the way for allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion. This could be done, the German bishops said, as the conclusion of “a decision-making process, accompanied by a priest.”

The German bishops—whose conference had led the charge for a change in the Church’s stand on Communion for Catholics in illicit unions—thanked the Pope for his leadership in the matter.

But Cardinal Müller reiterated his own stand that Amoris Laetitia does not change Church teaching.

Moreover, Cardinal Müller—who, although German, is not included in the German bishops’ statements—said that it is wrong for individual bishops or episcopal conferences to issue their own interpretations of a papal document. He said:

I don’t like it, it is not right that so many bishops are interpreting Amoris Laetitia according to their way of understanding the Pope’s teaching. This does not keep to the line of Catholic doctrine. The magisterium of the Pope is interpreted only by him or through the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Pope interprets the bishops, it is not the bishops who interpret the Pope, this would constitute an inversion of the structure of the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Müller also rejected the idea that in some cases a married Catholic could in good conscience form a second conjugal union. He explained:

For example, it cannot be said that there are circumstances according to which an act of adultery does not constitute a mortal sin. For Catholic doctrine, it is impossible for mortal sin to coexist with sanctifying grace.

For those who are confused by the conflicting interpretations of the papal document, Cardinal Müller recommended a careful study of the Church’s teaching—“starting from the Word of God in Sacred Scripture, which is very clear on marriage.”

 

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Further information:

• Cardinal Müller: Communion for the remarried is against God’s law (Catholic Herald)
• Council of German bishops endorses Communion for the remarried (Catholic Herald)
• Germans still jousting over the proper reading of ‘Amoris Laetitia’ (Crux)
• The Pope Is Silent, But Cardinal Müller Speaks. Who Responds To the "Dubia" This Way (L'Espresso)