well, that didn't take long

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Oct 24, 2005

On Saturday the Synod of Bishops affirmed the Church teaching that Catholics who are divorced and illicitly remarried should not receive Communion.

On Monday, Cardinal Kasper questioned the Synod's conclusion, and suggested that it was time to re-think the Church policy.

But wait: Isn't that what the Synod just did?

One news service, apparently not very well informed about Vatican affairs, read the cardinal's statement as a hint that the Pope might "veto" the Synod's conclusion. He could, in theory, but it's not likely. A decade ago, while he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, then-Cardinal Ratzinger "vetoed" a policy set by the same Cardinal (then Bishop) Kasper, allowing Communion for divorced/remarried Catholics.

So what's the point in suggesting that the policy should be reconsidered-- when the Synod just reconsidered it, and the Pope is already on record? What purpose is served, aside from undermining the authority of the Church's teaching on that topic?

Oh, I get it.