German bishops: most Catholics reject Catholic teaching on marriage, sexuality

February 04, 2014

Most Catholics in Germany have never heard of the term “natural law” and reject Catholic teaching on human sexuality, according to a report from the German Bishops’ Conference.

The report is a response to a series of questions sent to bishops’ conferences by the Synod of Bishops in preparation for the upcoming synod on the family. In November, Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Holy See Press Office, pointed out that the questions asked by the Synod “are not regarding the doctrinal position of the Church,” but were intended to solicit information about pastoral practices and public attitudes in different societies.

“Most of the baptized have an image of the Church on the one hand that it is family friendly in its attitude, whilst at the same time considering her sexual morality to be unrealistic,” according to the German bishops’ report, which was released on February 3. “As a matter of principle, statements made at universal level are regarded as not being suited in terms of their linguistic style and their authoritative approach to be understood and accepted among the baptized.”

“In most cases where the Church’s teaching is known, it is only selectively accepted,” the report continued. “The idea of the sacramental marriage covenant, which encompasses faithfulness and exclusivity on the part of the spouses and the transmission of life, is normally accepted by people who marry in Church. Most of the baptized enter into marriage in the expectation and hope of concluding a bond for life. The Church’s statements on premarital sexual relations, on homosexuality, on those divorced and remarried, and on birth control, by contrast, are virtually never accepted, or are expressly rejected in the vast majority of cases.”

“Most of the baptized are also not familiar with the term ‘natural law,’” the report added. “Many baptized categorically refused to answer this question in their responses, stating that they simply had never heard the term before.”

The report also found that:

• “Parents today make considerable efforts not to force children into anything, particularly with regard to religion. Conflicts are rather avoided than acted out in this area. What is more, parents themselves feel insecure when it comes to religious topics, so that they are frequently speechless when it comes to transmitting the faith, and delegate this topic to institutions such as kindergarten, the local church and school, even though they consider it to be important.”
• “Almost all couples who wish to marry in Church have already been living together, frequently for several years (estimates are between 90% and 100%).”
• “71.8% of all children who were born to Catholic mothers in 2012 were born in wedlock and 28.8% were born to an unmarried mother … Catholics in Germany accept unmarried couples living together without any major reservations. Only three percent adopt a strictly negative position in this regard.”

Those who have remarried outside the Church “do not consider their situation to be irregular,” the report added. “People in fact emphatically reject the terms ‘regular’ and ‘irregular’ in this context because they are perceived as being marginalizing and discriminating, particularly vis-à-vis families which in any case are already facing difficult living conditions. They consider their separation and the establishment of a new relationship as morally justified, and on the contrary may even consider it to be wrong to remain in an unacceptable relationship.”

“There are also quite a number of couples among committed people in the parishes who are divorced and remarried, the report continued. “Many of them however undergo considerable suffering, particularly those who are committed members of the Church. They feel discriminated against and marginalized by being excluded from the sacraments, but also by being excluded from certain services and offices … Most Catholics, including those who live in intact marriages, are unable to comprehend the teachings of the Church in this regard, but demand that pastoral care should involve respect for the individual’s conscience-based decision and a merciful approach towards failure which also allows people to make a new beginning and be re-admitted to the sacraments, in particular to the Eucharist.”

According to the report, most Catholics question the annulment process:

The statements from the dioceses are unanimous that most Catholics whose marriages have failed do not concern themselves with the question of validity because they do not regard their marriages, which may have lasted for years in many cases, as “null and void”, but as having failed. They therefore frequently consider an annulment procedure to be dishonest. They expect the Church to enable them to start again in a new relationship … The canonical exclusion from the sacraments as a result of civil remarriage is perceived by those concerned as constituting unjustified discrimination and being merciless.

Despite the German bishops’ opposition to same-sex unions, “there is a marked tendency among German Catholics to regard the legal recognition of same-sex civil partnerships and their equal treatment vis-à-vis marriage as a commandment of justice.”

Turning to Catholic teaching on contraception, the German bishops’ report said that “the encyclical Humanae Vitae (1968) on responsible parenthood is only known among the older generation … the distinction between ‘natural’ and ‘artificial’ birth control methods and the prohibition of the latter is rejected by the great majority of Catholics as incomprehensible, and is not adhered to in practice … Since a majority of practicing Catholics do not accept the distinction between ‘natural’ and ‘artificial’ birth control methods, they also do not make a connection between the selection of the birth control method and receiving the Sacrament of Penance or the Eucharist. The responses from the dioceses are unanimous that Catholics do not regard the use of ‘artificial’ birth control methods as sinful, and consequently also not as something to be confessed.”

Concluding the report, the bishops’ conference called for “perhaps re-admitting” those in an invalid marriage to the sacraments and offering “blessings for people in difficult situations”:

The responses from the bishoprics make it clear how great is the gulf between the baptized and the official teachings, above all when it comes to pre-marital cohabitation, those divorced and remarried, birth-control and homosexuality …

A new approach also appears to be indispensable in view of the evaluation of the “failure” of human relationships. As the responses clearly show, neither people in general today, nor the baptized, understand the thinking and the arguments of the Church concerning this question. This is a matter of fundamentally re-defining the place which the Church reserves for people whose marital relationships have failed and of constructively and productively tackling the question of perhaps re-admitting them to the sacraments. A fresh look needs to be taken at the significance of blessings for people in difficult situations, with these being kept clearly distinct from sacramental celebrations.

 

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Further information:

• Pastoral challenges to the family in the context of evangelisation (Deutsche Bischofskonferenz)
• Vatican is not 'polling' Catholics on marriage, family (CWN, 11/5)