What happened?
Pope Francis said that a “great majority” of Catholic marriages are invalid, before withdrawing the comments. He said “a culture of the provisional” means that “a large majority of our sacramental marriages are null: because they say, ‘Yes, all my life,’ but they do not know what it is they are saying.” The Pope was speaking informally at a meeting of Rome parishes. In the official transcript, “a great majority” was changed to “a portion” – with the Pope’s consent, said the Vatican.
What the media are saying
The irreverent website Gawker led with “Pope Francis to Catholics: Your Marriage is a Sham”. The New York Times columnist Ross Douthat called the Pope’s claim “extraordinary, irresponsible and ridiculous”. “The Catholic Church has never taught that you need a comprehensive theological understanding of the nature of marriage to enter into one,” Douthat tweeted. “What you need are valid consent, an intention of permanence and fidelity, and an openness to children.” Modern culture might have made these less common. “But the idea that modern issues make most marriages invalid implies a way higher standard of “true” marriage than the Church ever proposed.” Meanwhile, The Australian quoted a “senior Australian bishop” as saying the remarks proved the Pope was “no theologian”.
What the blogosphere is saying
Fr John Zuhlsdorf noted that the Pope had previously said that erroneous thoughts “invalidate marital consent only if they influence the person’s will”. In that previous, official statement, “his words were clear”. At First Things, RR Reno said he could understand the Pope’s desire for “latitude”. “But those of us living in the postmodern West don’t need flexibility, permission and provisionality from the Catholic Church. Our progressive secular culture gives us plenty of that.” The Week’s Michael Brendan Dougherty advised fellow Catholics to show the Pope some mercy. “Now that the meticulously careful theologian Joseph Ratzinger is neither the Pope nor the Pope’s ghostwriter,” he said, popes might well get things wrong. “Forgive them, and move on.”
The most overlooked story of the week
✣ Bishop recants criticism of ‘official’ Church
What happened?
A Chinese bishop under house arrest since he boldly resigned from the government-run “Catholic Patriotic Association” has publicly reversed his position. Writing on his blog, Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin said: “I … made errors of words and deeds against the Patriotic Association. On reflection, I find this was extremely unwise.”
Why was it under-reported?
For many, the situation Catholics face in China is confusing. Some may not fully comprehend the difference between the official church, governed by the Catholic Patriotic Association, and the underground Church loyal to Rome. It is also not clear how to interpret the story – was Bishop Ma’s intervention a genuine one or something obtained under duress? His dramatic resignation four years ago was momentous: the subsequent crackdown on the Church involved a three-year pause on the public ordination of bishops.
What will happen next?
Pope Francis is eagerly seeking a rapprochement with China but there is no sign yet that the authorities are willing to relax their grip on the Church. In an interview with Asia Times earlier this year, the Pope urged the world not to fear growing Chinese power. The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, recently said that the country should resist religious influences from abroad. He said that religious groups must submit to the leadership of the ruling, and officially atheist, Communist Party.
✣ The week ahead
Pope Francis will visit Armenia from today until Sunday, when he is scheduled to attend a Divine Liturgy celebrated by Catholicos Karekin II, the Orthodox patriarch. On Saturday the Pope will visit the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial to the estimated 1.5 million Armenians killed by Ottoman Turks in 1915-18. Later he will celebrate a Mass in Vartanants Square in Gyumri.
Rodrigo Duterte is to be inaugurated as president of the Philippines next Thursday. Since his election he has fired a series of insults at Catholic bishops, who have criticised Duterte – especially on his wish to extend the death penalty.
The Diocese of Clifton will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme next Thursday with an all-night vigil, Eucharistic adoration and readings in Clifton Cathedral. Two minutes of silence will be observed before Mass at 7.30 in the morning, the hour when troops went “over the top”.