The following comes from an October 20 Catholic News Agency article:
If divorced-and-remarried Catholics should receive communion, as Cardinal Walter Kasper and many of the German bishops suggest, does that mean St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher died for nothing?
In his latest column Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver asked this question and pointed to similarities between Cardinal Kasper’s push for allowing remarried Catholics to receive communion and English bishops granting Henry VIII’s “annulment.”
“As with those who advocate for communion for the civilly remarried, the English bishops were uncomfortable with embracing divorce and remarriage outright,” he said in his Oct. 19 column.
“Instead, they chose to bend the law to the individual circumstances of the case with which they were confronted, and King Henry VIII was granted an ‘annulment’ — on a fraudulent basis and without the sanction of Rome.”
The case for Henry VIII’s divorce came from a “strong utilitarian argument”: the king’s personal happiness and the well-being of the country.
Similarly, Archbishop Aquila said, some of the German bishops at the Synod on the Family “are pushing for the Church to allow those who are both divorced and remarried to receive communion, while other bishops around the world are insisting the Church cannot change Christ’s teaching.”
Two men we now recognize as saints, Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher, refused to join England’s bishops in recognizing the king’s divorce and remarriage. Both men were beheaded and later canonized.
Now similar arguments are being heard in Rome as some of the German bishops are calling for divorced-and-remarried Catholics to be able to receive communion, the archbishop observed.
“And this begs the question: Do the German bishops believe that Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher sacrificed their lives in vain?”
In contrast to Cardinal Kasper’s comment that “heroism is not for the average Christian,” Jesus tells us plainly that “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me,” the Denver archbishop said.
No they did not. Even though some modernists may try to change morals, they cannot really be changed. What was good holy and true is still good, holy and true. What was evil, sinful and false is still evil, sinful and false even if the entire hierarchy teaches the opposite.
Loose talk by heretical German prelates does nothing to diminish the sacrifices of St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher.
They are in heaven, their earthly lives are examples of faith and fidelity, we know their names and stories, there are feast days in their honor, etc, etc. Yes, this and more for men who defended true marriage to the death.
St. Thomas More, pray for us, St. John Fisher, pray for us!
Take a look at Dr. Taylor Marshall’s piece on “Mass Lectionary Omits Anti-Homosexual verses from Romans 1.” See, here: https://taylormarshall.com/2015/10/catholic-mass-lectionary-omits-anti-homosexual-verses-from-romans-1.html?utm_source=Taylor Marshall’s Updates.
In fact, the Church is already making changes to anything that has to do with sexual ethics and morality, regardless of the Catechism, regardless of the Vatican, and regardless of any formalities of they Synod or bishops. The real problem for all truly practicing Catholics is to find and eliminate these thieves from continuing to ruin the Faith.
What about St. Charles Lwanga and his associates who were martyred because they refused to participate in same sex relations with the king?
Time to canonize Catherine of Aragon, the saintly suffering wife. She’s is worthy!
You make a good point, California Teacher. Catherine suffered miscarriages, slander, imprisonment and many other things for the Faith.
Poor thing. Its sad. The reality is that we have modern day King Henry’s who after 20 plus years of marraige get bored and want out. But ive noticed that there are many today who care less about what Christ teaches about marraige and get civil divorces or legally separate and are dating like its no big deal. Today many women and men have affairs with married people. These home wreckers are justifying adulterous behaviors. We need to pray and fast that people have convictions back into their hearts to fear the Lord and respect their sacrament of marraige. Our youth need to witness more holy and chaste marraiges. As it is now, people do not respect the unborn, now they also continue to disrespect marraige too.
Also her mother Queen Isabella
Very true, Suzanne.