A hint of schism

More than 200 progressive theologians from the German-speaking world are demanding a reform of the Catholic Church in which laymen could participate in the nomination of bishops, married men would have the possibility of becoming priests, and [practicing] homosexuals and divorced-and-remarried individuals would have access to the sacraments.  They are supported by numerous Catholic associations, and the German hierarchy is nowhere near condemning their proposals.  Whereas these theologians are making a frontal attack on Catholic teaching and discipline, they are presumed to be still “in communion” with Rome.  Here is a presumption that borders on recklessness!

In Germany, some politicians in the Christian Democratic Party likewise hope that married men could be ordained, as an attempt to slow the dizzying decline in the number of priests in the parishes.  They go so far as to consider that this option should be granted only to their country by way of exception, given the state of great “pastoral distress” in which it finds itself.  Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, former President of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, declared that this demand is quite close to schism, since it would lead to the constitution of a national Church.

Indeed, a hint of schism hovers over all these claims.  Not a faint impression, like a hint of milk in a cup of tea, but rather a heavy suspicion of schism, like a threatening cloud in the sky over the Church.

Fr. Alain Lorans